Attack on Papuan Public Discourse Deemed Threat against Democracy

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A public attorney of Legal Aid Center for the Press, Rizki Yudha, on Thursday addressed the cyberattack against event organizers of an online public discussion highlighting racial discrimination against Papua, which he deems as a real threat towards democracy. 

The online discussion was initially aimed to highlight issues regarding #papuanlivesmatter that was organized by Lampung University’s Teknokra community on Thursday, June 11. 

The massive attacks launched at people involved in the discussion were also aimed at one of the speakers scheduled to be present in the discussion, Tantowi Anwari, who is part of SEJUK (journalist’s union for diversity). 

“Tantowi first received threats in the form of doxxing or doxing on June 10, 2020, at around 20:06 Western Indonesia Times (WIB), which was only one day ahead of the event,” Rizki elaborated in yesterday’s press release. 

At the time, Tantowi’s mobile phone was contacted by a mysterious Whatsapp phone number that intimidated him by sending screenshots of Tantowi’s ID card and was followed by verbal and written intimidation that lasted until Thursday evening at 21:01 WIB. 

“The discussion on racial discrimination against Papua #papuanlivesmatter and other critical discussions are basically freedom of expression and to have an opinion which is normal in democratic countries. It is also people’s basic rights and protected by the constitution,” said Rizki Yudha. 

MUHAMMAD HENDARTYO