Papua Reporter: Mental Scars Remain, I Am Traumatised

Papua Reporter: Mental Scars Remain, I Am Traumatised
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/papua-reporter-mental-scars-remain-i-am-traumatized/431695

Banjir Ambarita, a Jayapura-based contributor to the Jakarta Globe, was
stabbed on March 3 — the same day he had written about a high-profile
case of police abuse. Here he recounts the events of that night.

JAYAPURA (The Jakarta Globe/Pacific Media Watch): For me, even a simple
mundane act such as riding a motorcycle can still be a nightmare.

When I ride a motorcycle, the feeling that I am being followed
continues to haunt me. At home, if I hear a sudden noise, I always
panic, fearing that someone is looking for me

I, Banjir Ambarita, known to my friends as Bram, was the victim of a
stabbing assault in the early hours of March 3.

I may have physically recovered, but the mental scars remain. I am
still traumatised.

Now 35 years old, I have worked for several years as a freelance
journalist, contributing to media in Papua and elsewhere, including the
Jakarta Globe.

On the night of my attack, I was heading home after spending the day
writing about a case of sexual abuse by officers from the Jayapura
police, a protest by nurses working at a state hospital in the city.
Later that day I had attended a friend’s father’s wake.

I am certain that my assault had something to do with my reports,
because for decades I have passed through the same areas without
incident.

I had just exposed a case of three Jayapura policemen who had forced a
female detainee to perform oral sex on them over a three-month period.

After waiting at an internet cafe for heavy rain to stop, I finally
left for home in the early hours of March 3. I was accompanied by a
fellow journalist, Folmer Sihombing, who works for Media Indonesia.

We were both riding our own motorcycles and eventually parted ways at
the Papua Trade Center intersection.

Continuing on the dark, deserted road, I suddenly became aware of the
sound of a roaring motorcycle, like one that was just speeding up in a
race.

I moved to the side of the road, where I continued at a moderate speed,
as the road was still wet and slippery after the rain.

But instead of passing me at full speed as the sound had suggested, the
motorcycle, with two men on it, slowed down and drove alongside me.
Initially I thought nothing of it, but as we passed the bridge in front
of the South Jayapura district office, the passenger on the other
motorcycle without warning leaned over and stabbed me in the abdomen.

I was caught by surprise and even had time to look at my assailant and
ask him what he was doing. But the man stayed silent and stabbed me
twice in the chest.

I remember the motorcycle driver was looking away from me, as if trying
to avoid looking at me.

When detectives from the Jayapura police questioned me on Friday, I
gave them a description of the assailant. I clearly remember his sharp
eyes and slicked-back straight black hair; he was dark-skinned, thin and
was not very tall.

My immediate reaction to the attack was to increase speed. I tried to
put as much distance as possible between me and the other motorcycle,
shouting wildly, “Help, I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed.”

A man standing in front of the South Jayapura district office asked me
what was happening, but I didn’t stop, I was too busy trying to
escape.

I was determined to find a busy place so that any more attacks on me
could be witnessed by other people.

I passed the South Jayapura Police station but did not stop because of
fear, having just unravelled the sexual abuse case. Instead I headed
straight to the office of Papua Pos, a newspaper to which I also
contribute articles.

The office was empty at that time of night but two workers who were
busy folding newspapers took me, on foot, to the South Jayapura police
station that I had passed just a few minutes earlier.

At my request, a policeman took me to the hospital. He wanted to take
me to the DOK II General Hospital for an official examination to log my
injuries, but I told him that what I wanted was to immediately stop the
bleeding.

I knew that DOK II Hospital had been plagued by strikes, which I had
also written about, so he took me to the Marthen Indey Hospital
instead.

ENDS

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