Papuan journalist Victor Mambor was reportedly intimidated on 21 April 2021. According to information received, the perpetrator(s) damaged Victor Mambor’s car between 12.00 and 2.00 am. The vehicle was parked on a public road in front of his house in Jayapura. The perpetrator(s) smashed the windshield and two side windows and defaced the car with spray paint (see photos, source Jubi). Activists believe that the attack was meant to intimidate Victor Mambor after he wrote several critical articles on the human rights situation in West Papua for the Papuan news outlet Jubi. Victor Mambor officially reported the case to the local police.
The Association of Independent Journalists (AJI) condemned the attack and called upon the police to conduct an efficient investigation into the case. AJI considered the incident as an attack on the media freedom in West Papua and expressed concerns that such acts against journalists in West Papua will re-occur if the police fail to prosecute the perpetrator(s).
The latest attack against Victor Mambor is not an isolated incident. Previously, Victor Mambor and Jubi had been subjected to digital attacks like doxing and the distribution of flyers on social media containing hate speech content against the journalist. Victor Mambor has been working as a journalist in West Papua for more than 20 years. He was the founder of Jubi and the former chairman of AJI in the Papua Province.
