Kontras Urges Police to Unveil Activist's Shooting in Madura

Jakarta (Antara) - The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has urged the police to thoroughly investigate the recent shooting of activist Mathur Husairi in Madura, East Java. "We ask the police to thoroughly investigate the shooting of Mathur Musairi," Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said in a written statement received here on Wednesday. Kontras condemned the attack on Mathur Husairi, a local anti-corruption activist who has been active in the efforts to disclose corruption cases including that of Bangkalan district legislative assembly speaker Fuad Amin Imron. Haris noted it is believed the shooting was connected to the case. "The attack on the anti-corruption activist is a form of terror against democracy because democracy is against violence and corruption," he added. According to him, Kontras records show that a similar attack on anti-corruption activists had happened in the same region in December 2014. Unknown persons had attacked three activists from the Madura Corruption Watch with machetes, he cited. An activist from ICW, Tama S Langkung, was attacked with a machete in 2010 for trying to track 25 bank accounts of police officers, he revealed. Haris remarked that the incidents were meant to suppress the public especially anti-corruption activists carrying out public scrutiny of state officials. According to Kontras records, none of the attack cases has been solved. "Some activists have even been prosecuted for damaging reputation. So, it is clear that authorities and state institutions are involved in corruption cases," Haris Azhar observed. (*)