A public official with the initials AA, one of the heads of an agency in Kerawang Regency, West Java tortured two journalists, Gusti Sevta Gumilar and Zaenal Mustofa, on Saturday night, 17 September 2022, and Sunday morning, 18 September 2022. There are strong indications that AA and his men kidnapped, illegally detained, punched and kicked the victims’ bodies and genitals, forced the victims to drink urine, and threatened to kill the victims. AA was disturbed by news reports written by one of the victims and was also unhappy with the victim’s posts on their social media that made fun of an event of the Indonesian Football Association Kerawang (Persika).
On 17 September 2022, Gusti Sevta Gumilar attended the Persika 1951 launch at Singaperbangsa Stadium in Karawang. During the event, he posted sarcastic words about the launch of Persika 1951 on his social media accounts. After the event, several people who claimed to have been sent by AA took Gusti to a location which used to be the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) Karawang office. AA serves on the board of the district association of the PSSI Karawang. They closed the door and prohibited others from entering. Inside the room, they interrogated him about his motives for writing the Facebook post and the news stories he had previously written. They accused Gusti of provocation. An aide with the initial R took his cell phone. Moments later, about 4-5 people beat Gusti, hitting his head and punching several parts of his body. Public official A was in the room and forced the victim to drink urine three times. They threatened Gusti not to make a report to the police and threatened to kill his family, and that his child would become an orphan. Family members of Gusti Sevta Gumilar then came and picked him up.
Several district government officials picked up Zaenal at his home on Sunday morning, 18 September 2022. Zaenal was put in a pick-up car and tortured, leaving him with a deep laceration on his head.
Gusti Sevta Gumilar reported this case to Kerawang Police on Monday night, 19 September 2022, naming four people, namely AA, D, R and L, as perpetrators. Two of them are state civil servants. After the victim’s report, AA, a public official, made a counter-report to the Karawang Resort Police. He accused the victim of conveying false information and denied Gusti’s allegation of threats, torture, forced confinement and degradation. He said there was no link between the incident and journalistic work and that the incident was not his order. Police named D and R as suspects on 26 September 2022 and AA on 6 October 2022.
Detailed Case Data
name of the location: Former PSSI Office (-6.3010584282406015, 107.30680528020888
administrative region: Indonesia, West JavaProvince, Kerawang Regency, West Kerawang District
total number of victims: 2
period of incident: 18.09.2022
perpetrator: public officials
perpetrator details: Kerawang District Officials Issues: torture, ill-treatment, freedom of expression
Sources: https://www.nuansametro.co.id/2022/11/gusti-sevta-gumilar-dan-zaenal-musthofa.html, https://makassar.antaranews.com/berita/428569/pejabat-terlapor-kasus-penganiayaan-wartawan-melapor-balik-ke-polres-karawang, https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/polisi-panggil-pejabat-pemkab-karawang-terkait-penganiayaan-wartawan-warga-1yw1HICaYS6/full, https://makassar.antaranews.com/berita/428569/pejabat-terlapor-kasus-penganiayaan-wartawan-melapor-balik-ke-polres-karawang, https://news.detik.com/berita/d-6302599/pejabat-pemkab-karawang-diduga-paksa-wartawan-minum-kencing, https://portaljabar.net/karawang/polres-karawang-tetapkan-aa-sebagai-tersangka-atas-kasus-dugaan-penculikan-dan-penganiayaan-2-wartawan/, https://purwasuka.suara.com/read/2022/09/29/122923/polres-karawang-tetapkan-2-orang-tersangka-kasus-penculikan-dan-penganiayaan-wartawan, https://ms-my.facebook.com/djawanews/videos/kesaksian-wartawan-kabkarawang-yang-diduga-dicekoki-air-kencingsalah-seorang-kor/602550011565213/. Further HRM News:
| Number | Name, Details | Gender | Age | Group Affiliation | Violation |
| 1 | Gusti Sevta Gumilar, journalist | male | 29 | journalist | torture, ill-treatment, freedom of expression |
| 1 | Zaenal Mustofa, journalist | male | unknown | journalist | torture, ill-treatment, freedom of expression |
