INDONESIA: The wife of late Australian journalist Greg Shackleton visits his grave in Jakarta and appeals to the Indonesian government to find the truth

Record ID: 572609

  • Title: INDONESIA: The wife of late Australian journalist Greg Shackleton visits his grave in Jakarta and appeals to the Indonesian government to find the truth
  • Date: 10th July 2010
  • Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (JULY 9, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF PUBLIC CEMETERY STONE SIGNAGE THAT READS PUBLIC CEMETERY TANAH KUSIR CEMETERY GRAVE OF "BALIBO FIVE" SHIRLEY SHACKLETON ARRIVING IN CEMETERY AREA SHACKLETON COMING OUT FROM CAR SHACKLETON WALKING, ACCOMPANIED BY HER INTERPRETER SHACKLETON ARRIVING AT GRAVE OF HER HUSBAND SHACKLETON FACING JOURNALISTS GREG SHACKLETON'S GRAVE PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHIRLEY SHACKLETON, WIFE OF GREG SHACKLETON, SAYING: "Every prime minister from the last thirty years and every Indonesian government for the last 30 years say they are here….I want proof ..Please." SHACKLETON WITH HER INTERPRETER SHACKLETON'S HAND (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHIRLEY SHACKLETON, WIFE OF GREG SHACKLETON, SAYING: "This must be a huge embarrassment to the Indonesian government and I appeal to SBY, to your president, to dig this up and let me know what is in there." SHACKLETON SURROUNDED BY JOURNALISTS GRAVE PUBLIC CEMETERY COMPLEX
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4M5XWJLBEWACJG1460BD9O8MO
  • Story Text: Shirley Shackleton, the wife of late journalist Greg Shackleton who died in East Timor 35 years, visited her husband's grave on Friday (July 9) in Jakarta, appealing to the government to find the truth.
    She attended a court hearing on Thursday (July 8) on appeals to lift a ban on a movie about her husband's death, that she and others say was a deliberate killing. She told the court that she believed her husband was shot after he surrendered to Indonesian forces.
    The Indonesian goverment has maintained that Greg Shackleton and four other journalists were killed in crossfire between Indonesian soldiers and East Timorese rebels in the town of Balibo.
    Shirley Shackleton, 78, said she did not believe that the grave of her husband and his companions was real.
    "Every prime minister from the last thirty years and every Indonesian government for the last thirty years say they are here….I want proof ..Please," Shirley Shackleton told journalists in the cemetery.
    She demanded proof from the Indonesian government, specifically President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of what she called a "huge embarrassment".
    "This must be a huge embarrassment to the Indonesian government and I appeal to SBY, to your president, to dig this up and let me know what's in there," Shackleton said.
    Shackleton had been seeking the truth for almost 35 years over what really happened to her husband and his companions.
    She was invited by the Indonesian Journalist Alliance to testify in court on a government decision to ban a film about the events surrounding the "Balibo Five" incident.
    A censorship board official who was in the hearing said Shackleton's testimony would not affect the case, and that the film was banned because it was one-sided.
    The film, entitled "Balibo", premiered in Melbourne last year before an audience that included East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta, who says Indonesian forces killed the reporters.
    East Timor was under Indonesian occupation for almost 24 years.
    At least 100,000 East Timorese lost their lives in fighting, disease and starvation during the Indonesian occupation, which ended with a bloody vote for independence in 1999.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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