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Violence against journalists reaches 10-year high
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An expert from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), John Hyde, speaks about corruption in Makassar, South Sulawesi, in a class about investigative journalism in November. Many journalists experience violence when they investigate alleged corruption. (Antara/Darwin Fatir)
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iolence against journalists has escalated to its highest level in a decade, a year-end report from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) says.
According to the report, there have been 78 cases of violence against journalists and one murder between January and December, almost double the number of cases in 2015, which was 42.
“This is the largest number in the past 10 years,” AJI chairman Suwarjono said during the launch of the report in Central Jakarta on Friday.
(Read also: Group denounces violence against journalist ahead of Dec. 2 rally)
AJI head of advocacy Iman D. Nugroho said that the worsening violence against journalists had shown that the 2014 election of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the first democratically elected civilian President in the post-Soeharto era, had failed to make a difference.
“This is shocking because we know that when Jokowi was elected, many people hoped [that his election would ensure better protection for journalists]. But that’s not the case,” he said.
Based on data from AJI, civilians were responsible for most cases of violence against journalists at 36 cases, followed by the police, who were responsible for 13 cases.
“This has been going on for the last three years. It means that the police, whom we hope would be law enforcers, turn out to be promoting violence and leaving perpetrators unpunished. Therefore, we dub the police as enemies of press freedom,” Suwarjono said. (evi)
