Indonesian journalist survives stabbing

IFEX/AJI Report

On 3 March 2011, unidentified suspects stabbed Banjir Ambarita, a correspondent for the vivanews.com online portal and the "Jakarta Globe" daily newspaper in Jayapura, Papua.

Banjir, 35, said he was riding his motorcycle when two men in another motorcycle forced him to pull over near the office of the Jayapura municipal building at 2:15 a.m.

Kompas.com quoted him as saying "I thought they were going to overtake me, so I slowed down, but the one sitting in the pillion (passenger's seat) suddenly [stabbed] me in the belly and chest."

Banjir tried to go to the office of the "Papua Post" daily but found it closed. He then sought help from the police. He was brought to the Marten Indey Hospital in Jayapura where he underwent an operation because the knife penetrated his intestines.

Though there was no clear motive for the attack, the "Jakarta Post" quoted sources as saying that it might be connected to a sex scandal involving several police officers in Jayapura that Banjir had reported on. The town's chief of police was forced to resign on 1 March 2011 as a result of the scandal.