Anak Agung Prabangsa

Radar Bali

February 11, 2009, in Bali, Indonesia

A local politician and nine accomplices killed Prabangsa, a 41-year-old reporter with the Indonesian-language Radar Bali daily, on the provincial island of Bali, for his report on a corrupt local government project the politician had supervised, according to a local press freedom group and local news sources.

Prabangsa's family and colleagues declared him missing on February 12. His body was found floating west of the Padangbai harbor four days later, news reports said. The journalist had received threatening calls and text messages on his cell phone two weeks before he disappeared, the director of Radar Bali, Justin Herman, told CPJ.

Following a police investigation, local news reports said I Nyoman Susrama, a legislative council member for the district of Bangli, a large city in eastern Bali, took Prabangsa to his home on February 11. Prabangsa's report had exposed irregularities in a local education department project under Susrama's jurisdiction, according to the Alliance of Independent Journalists in Indonesia.

Later Prabangsa was taken 32 miles (51 kilometers) to the small coastal town of Padangbai, and dumped in 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.

Police arrested Susrama along with seven others for the murder on May 24, according to The Jakarta Globe. Two more arrests followed. The politician and three suspects, Komang Wardana, Komang Gede and Nyoman Rencana, are accused of planning and executing the assassination. If convicted for premeditated murder they face a possible death sentence, the Globe reported. Six others are accused of playing a minor role in the killing, news reports said. 

Medium: Print

Job: Print Reporter

Beats Covered: Corruption, Politics

Gender: Male

Local or Foreign: Local

Freelance: No

Type of Death: Murder

Suspected Source of Fire: Government Officials

Impunity: Partial

Taken Captive: Yes

Tortured: Yes

Threatened: Yes