(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concerned over the recent firebomb attack against Sjamsul Kahar, chief editor of the Aceh-based, Indonesian-language daily newspaper “Serambi Indonesia” and chairman of the Aceh chapter of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI). On 10 August 1999, at around 2:00 a.m. (local time), unidentified assailants threw two Molotov cocktails at Kahar’s home […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concerned over the recent firebomb attack against
Sjamsul Kahar, chief editor of the Aceh-based, Indonesian-language daily
newspaper “Serambi Indonesia” and chairman of the Aceh chapter of the
Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI).
On 10 August 1999, at around 2:00 a.m. (local time), unidentified assailants
threw two Molotov cocktails at Kahar’s home in the provincial capital, Banda
Aceh, setting his car ablaze and causing some external damage to the house.
No one was injured. Kahar’s son was home at the time of the attack, and
telephoned his father at his “Serambi Indonesia” office to warn him not to
return home that night. Kahar left Aceh the next day.
Kahar told CPJ that he has been receiving death threats almost weekly since
May, when violence in Aceh between Indonesian soldiers and separatist rebels
escalated sharply. According to news reports, more than 200 people have been
killed in the last several months, and about 140,000 Acehnese have fled
their homes. Both Indonesian military officers and rebel leaders regularly
threaten the newspaper, whenever they believe that its coverage of the
conflict favors one side over the other.
Journalists in Indonesia suspect that it is either the Indonesian special
forces or members of the separatist movement who are behind the attack on
Kahar. Though a senior commander of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM),
Tunku Abdullah Syafi’i, condemned the firebombing, another GAM leader, Tunku
Maulida, said that he and his followers were very angry about a report that
had appeared in the 4 August edition of the Jakarta-based daily “Kompas” and
said he believed all “Kompas” reporters should be killed. Kahar no longer
works for “Kompas”, but his family members have told CPJ they believe he may
have been targeted because he is still listed in the newspaper as a staff
reporter from Banda Aceh, and because “Serambi Indonesia” is part of the
“Kompas” newspaper group.
Kahar’s brother Basri Daham, who works as a reporter for “Kompas” from
Lhokseumawe, the district capital of North Aceh, has also left the province
fearing his life is in danger there.
The daily “Waspada”, a newspaper published in Medan, the capital of
neighboring North Sumatra Province, reported that one of its journalists
received a threatening telephone call just before midnight on 10 August. The
anonymous caller reportedly warned, “We have bombed the PWI chairman’s
house. Yours will be the next target.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
government authorities guarantee that journalists are able to report freely
and without fear of physical violence
Sjamsul Kahar, to investigate all reports of death threats issued against
journalists working in Aceh, and to reassure journalists that the
perpetrators of such violent crimes will be brought to justice
public
Appeals To
His Excellency Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie
President, Republic of Indonesia
Office of the President
Bina Graha, Jalan Veteran No. 17
Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia
Fax: +62 21 345 2685
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
