The case sparked a backlash from online users, who lambasted law enforcement agencies and pointed to past cases of journalists who had reported on sensitive issues and later died in mysterious circumstances.

Major journalist groups in Indonesia claimed Rico and his family were targeted by corrupt officials. Police have said they are still investigating the case and condemned any violence against reporters.

The national coordinator for the Committee on Safety for Journalists (KKJ), Erick Tanjung, said his organisation’s initial investigation has indicated possible foul play in Rico’s case.

“We urge the police, the armed forces and other law enforcement agencies to work hard and sincerely to get to the bottom of the case and give Rico’s family the closure and justice they desperately need.”

Formed in 2019 by journalists’ associations and legal aid groups, KKJ is an advocacy group that works on behalf of journalists facing violence or threats in their line of duty. KKJ sent its investigation team to Medan a day after Rico’s death.

AJI (the Alliance of Independent Journalists) Medan Chairman Cristison Sondang Pane, who is on KKJ’s team investigating Rico’s death, said the team discovered Rico had “committed some serious breaches of the journalistic ethics” while reporting on the local gambling ring.

“Our preliminary finding established Rico had been receiving weekly stipends from the gambling ring to ensure he didn’t publish any story about them, at least initially.”

According to AJI, the journalist had asked for payments to also be extended to a local youth group, complicating matters between the ring leader and himself, which later led to Rico exposing the said military officer.

Cristison said he regretted Rico’s alleged unprofessional conduct but claimed the practice was “only too common” among journalists in Indonesia.

“While it doesn’t excuse their unethical conduct, many [Indonesian] journalists are underpaid and rely on unsavoury side hustles to make ends meet.”

To illustrate his point, he explained most reporters such as Rico made between 800,000 rupiah (US$50) and 1 million rupiah a month, a third of the provincial minimum wage in North Sumatra.

Research carried out by AJI in 2023 involving 423 journalists in Indonesia found half of them were paid below the minimum wage. More than 10 per cent were also required to “earn commissions” from advertisements they sold to businesses.

The research also exposed the dismal compliance rate, at 11.2 per cent, among media companies in granting women journalists paid maternity leave, compulsory under Indonesian labour laws.

While major national news networks “toed the line” on minimum wage rules, smaller local media companies were often non-compliant, Cristison said.

“We at AJI respectfully ask the government and Press Board to do more in upholding wage rules so that journalists’ welfare could be improved.”

Additionally, he said, AJI was aware of a prevalent practice by government public relations departments at different agencies to “hand out envelopes” to journalists in a bid to “motivate them to write reports on government schemes”.

“This carrot-and-stick gimmick to generate positive publicity for the government is detrimental to our efforts to encourage professionalism among journalists.”

An “ecosystem reboot” was needed to create an atmosphere more conducive to better professionalism in Indonesian journalism, Cristison added.

KKJ coordinator Erick said even if Rico had breached industry ethics, violence was not an excusable response. “Our Press Law clearly states unethical conduct by journalists should be reported to the Press Board to be adjudicated upon.”

Although Rico was unaffiliated with AJI or the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) – Indonesia’s two main press organisations – KKJ would ensure a thorough investigation into his case, Erick said.

“If Rico and his family members were indeed murdered, the perpetrator and mastermind must be punished according to the law.”

Hadi Wahyudi, a public relations officer of the North Sumatra police, stressed his agency’s “total commitment” to solving the mystery surrounding Rico’s death, pointing out they had set up a “community hotline” through which people could send their tips and information about the case.

“In the meantime, we have interviewed 16 witnesses deemed able to shed more light on our investigation,” he said, adding police did not condone violence against journalists.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Indonesia 111 out of 180 in its 2024 index for press freedom, down from 108 in 2023. AJI recorded 986 instances of violence against Indonesian journalists between 2006 and 2023.

Muhammad Busri, a newspaper journalist from Sumenep, Madura, East Java, recounted his experience of facing intimidation while reporting recently on mining activities backed by a powerful local civil servant in the province of East Java.

“I wrote an article about how the excavation carried out at the mining site had caused disquiet among residents, who were worried about its environmental impact on their village.”

Busri said he was later approached by the official he was accusing, who was “accompanied by his men”. He was threatened “with physical violence”, adding that he did not receive legal help until AJI offered to help him deal with the matter.

Asked whether he regretted reporting on the mining case, Busri shook his head. “I was just doing my job as a journalist.”

On social media, Indonesians noted similarities between Rico’s case and another killing in 1996, with online user Wahyu remarking: “Reminds me of the murder case of Udin, the reporter from Bernas, which remains a mystery.”

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, on August, 13 that year, reporter Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin, better known as Udin, arrived home late at night to find an unknown man waiting for him. The man attacked Udin with a crowbar, causing him serious injuries, and left him for dead on the side of the road.

Three days later, the journalist died in a hospital in Yogyakarta. His attacker has so far eluded justice.

Before the incident, Udin wrote several articles critical of the three army personnel members who were shortlisted to become the Regent of Bantul, Yogyakarta.