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Jakarta. The death on Saturday of journalist Ridwan Salamun during a clash between villagers in Tual, Maluku, was met by demonstrations and calls for greater protection for journalists.

Ridwan, a contributor for Jakarta-based Sun TV, was killed while covering a clash between residents of Banda Eli and Mangun, a hamlet in Fiditan village, in Tual, Southeast Maluku.

According to reports, the violence was triggered by a minor disagreement that quickly escalated. Some residents of Banda Eli reportedly told a motorcyclist from Mangun to slow down while driving through their neighborhood. The motorcyclist then went to his neighborhood and gathered together some friends to attack those who had rebuked him.

Ridwan, whose family was from Banda Eli, was assaulted by the mob from Mangun and died from multiple machete slashes, said Dien Kelilauw, from the Maluku Media Center.

He was taken to a hospital but died two hours later, the Indonesian Television Journalists Association said on Sunday. His camera is still missing. 

Dien told the Jakarta Globe the MMC had met with Maluku Police Chief Brig. Gen. Totoy Herawan Indra on Saturday and had requested a thorough investigation into Ridwan’s death. 

Totoy said the police would pursue the assailants, according to the state-run Antara news agency.

“We will investigate after collecting evidence and finding witnesses. We will go after the suspects,” he said.

On Sunday, a group of 70 journalists marked Ridwan’s death by staging a demonstration of solidarity in Denpasar while a similar rally was held in Jakarta by members of a journalist forum.

“The police should be able to solve the case just like they did with the murder of Radar Bali journalist Anak Agung Narendra Prabangsa,” said Rofiqi Hasan, head of the Denpasar chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI).

AJI Denpasar also called on all media companies to protect their journalists by providing them with insurance.

Imam Wahyudi, chairman of the Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI), said more needed to be done to protect journalists.

“Media outlets must provide proper training and protection for their journalists, especially those covering conflict areas,” he said.

Imam said the intimidation of journalists was “basically the terror and intimidation of the public,” which relies on journalists for information.

Putu Setiawan, coordinator of the Bali IJTI chapter, said journalists should never be victimized in the course of their work,

“No matter how good the news coverage is, it will be useless if the journalist comes home in a body bag,” he said.

Putu acknowledged the inherent risks in journalism, but said it was important to minimize these risks.