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Pressure mounts for a full investigation into North Sumatra journalist’s death
Colleagues have flagged irregularities surrounding a fire that killed a journalist working for an outlet affiliated with the police and three family members at his home in Tanah Karo regency, North Sumatra, which occurred following the publication of his reporting pertaining to a gambling incident in the regency.
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Officials of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) and Tanah Karo Police personnel on July 2, 2024, survey the scene of a fire incident that killed a journalist and three family members in Karo regency, North Sumatra. (Antara/Fransisco Carolio)
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uthorities are facing increasing pressure to thoroughly investigate the cause and any circumstances behind a fire that killed a journalist and his family in North Sumatra, amid reports that the incident may relate to his reporting on a local gambling incident.
Forty-seven-year-old Sempurna Pasaribu, who worked as a journalist for the police’s Tribarata TV, died in a fire at his home in Tanah Karo regency, North Sumatra, in the early hours of June 27. He was killed in the fire alongside his wife Elfrida Boru Ginting, 48, their 12-year-old child and a 3-year-old grandchild.
The cause of the fire that killed Sempurna and his family remains unclear, but his colleagues flagged events surrounding the incident as suspicious, particularly since it occurred following the journalist’s reporting of a gambling incident taking place in the regency that allegedly involved Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel.
The information was found following a probe by an independent fact-finding team from the North Sumatra Journalist Safety Commission (KKJ), a coalition consisting of professional groups such as the Medan chapter of the Association of Independent Journalists (AJI).
Meanwhile, several witnesses claimed that the fire was triggered by spilled gasoline at the victim’s house, where the family used to sell gasoline from a kiosk.
“The Press Council is urging the National Police and North Sumatra Police chiefs to form a team to investigate the case fairly and impartially,” the council said in a statement issued on Monday.
Aside from the police, the council also pushed the TNI, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) to form their own respective investigation teams. It also called for the protection of the victim’s family.
