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Alleged intimidations against ‘Tempo’ raise concerns on shrinking civic space
Several days after a Tempo journalist was sent an anonymous package containing a pig’s head, the outlet’s office in Jakarta received another box containing the carcasses of decapitated rats in what was seen as another attempt to intimidate the publication and its journalists.
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Well-known voice: Editions of 'Tempo' magazine are seen on a bookshelf on Oct. 6, 2024, in this illustration photo. (Shutterstock/landunggrafis)
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ational news magazine Tempo has received another anonymous package containing animal carcasses in what appears to be an effort to intimidate the outlet’s journalists for its reporting, raising concerns over shrinking civic space and freedom of speech in the country.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, an unidentified person on a motorcycle rode past the Tempo office in Palmerah, South Jakarta and threw a box at the office’s premises. Security guards opened the box, wrapped with rose-adorned gift paper, and found the carcasses of six decapitated rats inside.
The incident took place just days after another anonymous package, containing a decomposing and decapitated pig's head with its ears cut off, was sent to the magazine’s political journalist Francisca Christy Rosana.
Francisca, along with journalist Hussein Abri Dongoran and several other Tempo journalists, has hosted the “Bocor Alus Politik” podcast since 2023, a program that has garnered acclaim for its deep insights into current events.
Tempo is one of the country’s most recognized press institutions thanks to its courage in defending civil liberties. The outlet has been reporting on the deliberations for a revision of the 2004 Indonesian Military (TNI) Law, which critics have said could potentially bring in a resurgence of the armed forces’ dominant role in civilian affairs. The revision was passed at a House of Representatives plenary session on Thursday.
Tempo editor-in-chief Setri Yasra said that the publication quickly responded to the incidents by filing a report with the police on Friday. The report was updated on Saturday with evidence from the package containing the rat carcasses.
Read also: We are undeterred by intimidation: ‘Tempo’
