Offer They Couldn’t Refuse? Pig's Head Sent To Indonesian Journalists

Prabowo’s office denies involvement, recommends cooking head

In a shocking act condemned by domestic and international press organizations, unknown foes had a severed pig’s head delivered in a cardboard box to Francisca Christy Rosana, the host of Bocor Alus Politik (Smooth Leaks), the popular podcast of the crusading Jakarta weekly magazine TEMPO.

“We don’t know yet (who sent the gruesome package), but there are many powerful people who are not happy with the way Tempo does its work,” said Bambang Harymurti, a former TEMPO chief editor who is also active in the Press Council. Some, he said, have laid the action at the door of President Prabowo Subianto, because of TEMPO’s deeply critical reporting on the passage last week of a controversial revision of its military law to allow military officers to serve in other government posts without resigning from the armed forces.

Before passage, active military officers were allowed to serve only in ministries or state institutions related to security, defense, or intelligence under a landmark 2004 law that reduced the military’s role in civil affairs. The law passed the Parliament unanimously, despite growing opposition from pro-democracy and rights groups who see it as a threat to democracy reminiscent of the 31-year dictatorship of Prabowo’s onetime father-in-law Suharto – who banned the publishing of TEMPO in 1994 as a threat to national stability. It resumed publishing in 1998 after Suharto fell from power.

Whether his administration had anything to do with the delivery of the pig’s head or not, Prabowo has generated increasing qualms about the state of democracy in Indonesia. His reputation as an authoritarian and former general accused of human rights abuses hasn’t helped. By bringing virtually every relevant political party into his cabinet, he has largely neutered the opposition, as the unanimous vote on the military bill demonstrated. All eight political parties represented in Parliament backed the bill.

The president’s early actions, including his handling of the press so far, including a February 23 dressing-down of dozens of chief editors at a private dinner at his home, haven’t mollified concerns. In 2018, he referred to journalists as “lackeys of those who want to destroy Indonesia.” In 2014, he refused to answer questions from the Jakarta Post because the media outlet was known to support his political rival, Joko Widodo, during the presidential election at the time.

In addition, most of Indonesia’s media outlets are owned by a small group of politically connected oligarchs, many of whom openly support the governing coalition, leaving a few, like TEMPO, ready to take on the government – and become a target of pig’s head parcel packages.

Bambang likened the delivery to the blood-soaked moment in the classic movie The Godfather when a character wakes up to find a decapitated horse head in his bed “but instead they mailed it. TEMPO being TEMPO, they’re not particularly intimidated, in fact they created a video making light of it.” The video, in Indonesian, can be found here. The package was received by Tempo's security unit on March 19.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists didn’t take the affair nearly as lightly, condemning what it called “a dangerous and deliberate act of intimidation” the harassment of Indonesia’s leading independent news outlet, TEMPO — “weeks after President Prabowo Subianto alleged that foreign-funded media organizations are trying to ‘divide’ the country.” On the same day, protesters gathered outside Indonesia’s Press Council building and demanded it take action against Tempo, accusing it acting in the interest of a ‘foreign agent,’ billionaire financier George Soros.”

CPJ’s Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi said, “Tempo is well-known internationally for its fiercely independent reporting; using this playbook from autocrats elsewhere simply will not work. President Prabowo Subianto must uphold press freedom and condemn this highly provocative act if he wants Indonesia to be taken seriously as the world’s third-largest democracy.”

The Indonesia Safety Journalist Committee issued a statement calling the affair a “terror act as a form of threat related to attempts to obstruct journalistic work and press freedom.” The committee coordinator, Erick Tanjung, said terror and intimidation are obstacles to journalism that also pose a threat to the lives of journalists.

The head of the presidential office, Hasan Nasbi, played down the affair, saying it didn’t constitute a threat. Instead of condemning the matter – which raised suspicions among journalists – he pointed out that Rosana, known popularly as Cica, responded to the incident with humor.

“They treated it as a joke, suggesting that if meat was sent, it could potentially be cooked and eaten,” he said. “So, in my view, it is not a threat. The palace knows nothing about it and “this is their issue with unknown individuals. I don't know who the sender is. I cannot provide any commentary."

It’s hardly the first time Tempo journalists have been threatened, Bambang said. Since it was founded in March 1971 – not long after Indonesia began its troubled experiment with democracy – TEMPO journalists have faced repeated threats and legal actions. In 2010, its offices were firebombed by two black-clad men on a motorcycle after it published a story about police corruption based on leaked documents showing that six senior police officers had bank accounts containing millions of dollars, in one case more than US$10 million, on monthly salaries of around US$1600. More recently, Bambang said, another podcast host was attacked by an assailant who damaged her car by breaking window glass.

“Whether the police will reveal the threats and terror against journalists will be tested. Because so far, in the cases we have reported, the investigation process has stagnated,” said Erick Tanjung.

“Tempo was not deterred by intimidation—even when we received a shipment of pigs' heads, we became more determined to uncover the truth,” the magazine said on its website. “Support Us and make sure that the people's voice is heard, without fear of pressure. By joining, you support bold and trusted independent journalism. Let us together maintain the freedom of news information presented with integrity, depth and balance.”