Indonesia Journalist Held Over Murder He Reported

An Indonesian crime journalist is being held on suspicion of killing a man and then reporting news of his death soon afterwards.

Edison Purba, who worked for the Pekanbaruexpress.com website, was arrested last week in connection with the death of a man soon after he had taken money out of a bank in Pekanbaru city on Sumatra island.

"According to evidence, Edison was involved," said the city's chief detective, Mr Hariwiyawan, going on to explain that Purba had regularly contacted police for news on crime stories.

The suspect is believed to have returned to the scene of the killing and reported on it for the website, according to police and media reports.

His report was published, together with a photograph Purba took of the victim lying on a blood-stained road.

In the report, Purba identified the victim as Mulyono, 35, but said the killer and motive were not known.

The reporter and two other suspects were arrested after one of them turned himself in.

"One of them didn't get the money that was supposed to be split among them. That was why he confessed to the police," said Mr Hariwiyawan.

"They are accusing each other of being the killer.

"From the other suspect's confession, we knew that Edi was on the motorcycle with another suspect called Amin, but Edi said he wasn't.

"But, from the evidence, we concluded that Edi was involved in this case or at least he knew. The witnesses saw him on the spot too."

After the arrest, the head of the TV journalists' union, Yusril Ardanis, said: "I hope this case will become an example and learning point for everyone and especially for the authorities in charge of the regulations as it is way too easy to create a media outlet for unclear purposes."