Journalists Killed in 2009 - Motive Confirmed: Anak Agung Prabangsa

Radar Bali
February 11, 2009, in Bali, Indonesia

Prabangsa, 41, a reporter with the Indonesian-language Radar Bali daily, was reported missing on February 12 on the provincial island of Bali.

His body was found four days later, floating in waters west of the Padangbai harbor, news reports said. The journalist had received threatening calls and text messages on his cell phone for two weeks before he disappeared, the director of Radar Bali, Justin Herman, told CPJ.

Police arrested a local politician and several accomplices in the killing, which they said was motivated by the reporter's coverage of a local government project, news accounts said. Police alleged that I Nyoman Susrama, a legislative council member for the district of Bangli, a large city in eastern Bali, and accomplices had seized Prabangsa from his home on February 11.

Police said the assailants took Prabangsa 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the small coastal town of Padangbai and dumped him into the sea, The Jakarta Globe reported. An autopsy report cited in news stories found saltwater in the journalist's digestive system, indicating that he may have been alive when he entered the water. The autopsy said he also sustained head injuries and a broken wrist before his death.

Prabangsa's reporting had exposed possible corruption in a local education department project under Susrama's jurisdiction, according to the Alliance of Independent Journalists in Indonesia.

Police arrested Susrama and several others on May 24, according to The Jakarta Globe.

The politician and three suspects, Komang Wardana, Komang Gede, and Nyoman Rencana, were accused of planning and executing the assassination. If convicted for premeditated murder, they face a possible death sentence, the Globe reported. Six others were accused of playing lesser roles in the killing, news reports said.