An Indonesian farmer harvests fresh palm oil fruit at his plantation in Riau on Sumatra Island in this 2018 file photo. (Photo courtesy of Palm Oil Farmers Union)
Indonesian police have arrested a palm oil executive for allegedly masterminding the murders of two activist journalists found stabbed to death near his palm oil plantation in North Sumatra province last month.
Wibharry Padmoasmolo was arrested on Nov. 7 in Medan, the provincial capital, following the arrests of four other suspects on Nov. 5-6.
The body of Maraden Sianipar was found in a ditch near a palm oil plantation belonging to PT Sei Alih Berombang in Labuan Batu district on Oct. 30. The corpse of Maratua P. Siregar was found nearby.
Police said the killings were triggered by a land dispute between Padmoasmolo's company and local farmers.
The businessman is alleged to have paid the suspects more than 40 million rupiahs (about US$3,000) to kill them.
The killings sparked a strong reaction from Audrey Azoulay, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) .
“I condemn the killings of Maraden Sianipar and Maratua Siregar,” she said in a Nov. 8 statement. “I trust that the authorities will pursue the investigation of these murders and bring their perpetrators to trial. Justice must be mobilized to stop violent attacks on journalists whose work is essential to both democracy and rule of law.”
Sasmito Madrim, head of the advocacy desk at the Jakarta-based Indonesia Alliance of Independent Journalists, claimed that the murdered men were not working as journalists.
“One victim worked for the local weekly Pilar Indonesia Merdeka for a year until he left it in 2016. And the other one was a politician,” he told ucanews.
However, he said his group urged police to deal with the case properly. “Police have arrested five out of eight suspects. We want police to arrest all of them and bring them to justice,” he said.