Delivery of dead rats to Indonesian reporters sparks fears over freedom curbs
The incident allegedly targeting Tempo happened three days after a severed pig’s head was sent to a reporter from the magazine
A series of “terrorist” threats involving animal remains targeting several staff working for Indonesia’s Tempo magazine has sparked concerns over backsliding press freedoms and that such intimidation tactics could push journalists toward self-censorship.
Tempo, one of the country’s most respected investigative news outlets, on Saturday received a box of six rats with their heads decapitated, which was thrown into the front gate of its headquarters in Jakarta.
In a virtual news briefing on Sunday, Tempo’s editor-in-chief Setri Yasra said the personal data of Rosana and her family had also been published online, with the doxxing act carried out by an “anonymous” actor.
“So it’s not just [Rosana], her family too. Her social media account was [inaccessible], although we can restore it. There was an anonymous account on Instagram that made threats openly [against Rosana], with harsh language. We don’t know the person because the account is anonymous,” he said.
In addition to being cowardly, this method is immoral because it creates fear by killing living creatures
While it was unclear why animal carcasses were sent to Tempo, the weekly magazine described the incidents as acts of “terror”.