As Political Violence Rages, Journalist Stoned by Mob, Receives Death Threats
www.seapabkk.org
BANGKOK (SEAPA/Pacific Media Watch) - A local Agence France-Presse (AFP) stringer, Nelson da Cruz, was struck in the
face with a stone thrown by an unidentified youth while on his way to report a riot in Dili on 9 November 2006.
Da Cruz, who is also a journalist with Television of Timor-Leste (TVTL), was about to drive three friends to their house
in Kampung Baru, Komoro, a Dili suburb, when he received a tip about a riot in the nearby Kolmera district.
Along the way, at the junction of Kolmera and Bebora, a group of youths armed with sickles and knives were stoning
passing cars and trying to open the vehicles' doors. They managed to stop Da Cruz's car and asked whether he was from
"Lorosae or Loromonu" (the eastern or western part of East Timor).
Da Cruz responded by identifying himself as a journalist. Dissatisfied, the youths repeated their question. As Da Cruz
was about to reply again, one of them hurled a stone that struck his right cheekbone; another hit the car's window. When
Da Cruz started to bleed profusely, the group let him go.
Da Cruz sought treatment at a hospital, where he received four stitches to his wound. He then reported the incident to
the "Timor Post" office in Bebora, to the nearby "Suara Timor Lorosae" newspaper and to the AFP editor in Jakarta,
Indonesia.
Since April, violence arising from differences between the eastern and western regions of East Timor has killed at least
37 people and driven 15 percent of the population from their homes. The United Nations police force is helping to
restore order in this young nation with a traumatic past, which won independence from Indonesia only in 2002.
Da Cruz and his colleagues have been staying at their office since their houses were burnt down. They also fear for
their lives, having received death threats.
Responding to the attack on Da Cruz, "Suara Timor Lorosae" Co-Deputy Editor-in-chief Domingos Saldanha appealed to the
community to view journalists as their friends, saying that journalists would not engage in activities that harm the
people.
"A journalist's task is to cover news stories from the community and transmit them to the public. As journalists, we do
not distinguish [between races, or people of different ethnic origin] and religion . . . we always look at the people of
Timor-Leste as one community," he said.
ENDS