Rico Sempurna Pasaribu, a journalist with news site Tribrata TV, was murdered with three members of his family in an arson attack early in the morning of June 27, 2024, in Kabanjahe, Karo district, North Sumatra.
On November 25, 2024, three suspects— Bebas Ginting, Yunus Syah Putra Tarigan, and Rudi Apri Sembiring — were put on trial at the Kabanjahe District Court for their roles in the deadly arson. On March 27, 2025, the judges found all three guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced Ginting and Tarigan to life, while Sembiring received 20 years in jail.
On June 4, 2025, the Medan High Court affirmed the ruling and increased Sembiring’s prison sentence to life.
CPJ research uncovered that before the arson attack, Pasaribu received threats and demands he take down a Tribata TV report and Facebook post about an illegal gambling operation allegedly run by Corporal Herman Bukit, a soldier with the Army’s 125th battalion stationed in the town. The article included a photo of a coffee shop allegedly used as the gambling venue, citing its proximity to the battalion’s barracks.
Pasaribu expressed concerns about his safety and had avoided staying at home as a precautionary measure before the fatal fire, according to CPJ’s interviews with key witnesses.
In June 2026, a joint investigation by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Free Press Unlimited uncovered major flaws in the murder case, including authorities’ numerous investigative failures, raising questions whether full justice was achieved with the conviction of three men for the arson.
The report revealed substantial evidence linking Bukit to the illegal gambling business at the center of the case, to meetings with Ginting, the main perpetrator of the arson, and to pressure Pasaribu faced for his reporting. Yet investigators never questioned Bukit as a suspect or used investigative methods such as digital forensics or financial analysis to ascertain the extent of his connections with the victim and perpetrators.
A military investigation that cleared Bukit of alleged involvement in the murders was excessively narrow in scope, full of inconsistencies, and lacked transparency, the report showed.
The Indonesian National Police, North Sumatra Regional Police, Military Regional Command I/Bukit Barisan, and the Indonesian National Armed Forces headquarters, did not respond to CPJ’s emails and text messages requesting comment.
On February 14, 2025, Bukit granted power of attorney to lawyers from the Military Regional Command I/Bukit Barisan. The regional command did not reply to requests for comment about Bukit’s alleged involvement sent by email and text message.