Full Disclosure Demanded as Police Nab Suspect in Activist's Murder
Jakarta. Environmental and human rights activists have called on the police to reveal the identity of a person suspected of murdering activist Jopi Peranginangin, amid speculation that the alleged culprit is a member of the military.
Jopi died on Saturday after being stabbed in the back as he was leaving a South Jakarta cafe.
"We have found a single suspect," Sr. Comr. Krishna Mukti, chief of the general crime unit at the police, said on Monday, as cited by news portal Detik.com. "The suspect, identified by the initial J., has been detained."
"Solidarity for Jopi," a coalition of several environmental and human rights groups in Indonesia, is urging the police to reveal what they know of Jopi's fatal stabbing, at the parking lot of a cafe in Kemang.
"We think a public exposé of the investigation results is imperative to show the authorities are transparent with the legal process," a joint statement published on Monday by the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN) reads. "The results can also shed light on who the suspect is. We note that there has been speculation that the suspect is a member of the Indonesian military."
The coalition — which also includes Greenpeace Indonesia, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) — also called on the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) to monitor police investigations and on the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) to keep witnesses and the victim's family safe.
Jopi died on Saturday morning at Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta due to massive bleeding in his lungs, or pulmonary hemorrhage, just a few hours after being stabbed in the back while he was breaking up a fight at the cafe's parking lot.
Born in 1976 in North Sumatra, Jopi was an activist with AMAN and known for his strong criticism of palm oil companies, particularly those that violate their working permits and concession areas approved by the Indonesian government.
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