In October 1975, five Australia based journalists; channel nine cameraman Brian Peters, 29 , reporter Malcolm Rennie, 28, and channel seven reporter Greg Shackleton, 27, cameraman Garry Cunningham, 27 and sound recordist Tony Stweart, 21, went to East Timor to cover the Indonesian attack.
The men were aware of the dangers, however, they also believed as journalists they would not be considered military targets. They made a courageous decesion to stay at the border town of Balibo where they had limited telephone communication with the rest of the world.
On 16 October 1975, after filming an attack, as they tried to surrender, the five young journalists were tortured and killed deliberately by special Indonesian forces; believed to be ordered by higher officials. The Indonesia soldiers then dressed the lifeless bodies in military uniforms, guns placed beside them, and photographed in an attempt to portray them as legitimate targets. The bodies were later burned to conceal the crime.
The Balibo Five were killed by troops to stop them from exposing Indonesia’s covert operation!
Roger East was another Australia based journalist who went to East Timor in October 1975 to investigate the disappearance of the Balibo Five, and to report the East Timor situation to the outside world.
East was the last journalist to stay in East Timor, refusing to be rescued. He chose to stay because he cared about the Timorese and felt very strongly that Australian public had to be told the truth. Roger’s plan was to follow retreating Fretilin soldiers into the Hills and from there to continue his story.
Roger East never made it to Balibo. On 9 December 1975, at the age of 52, he was executed by firing squad, along with others, at the Dili waterfront. An Indonesian report later claimed that Roger East was an armed revolutionary.
These six journalists lost their lives to tell the truth, to help a nation.
Let us remember them, not by the way they died, but by the way they lived…. HEROIC!
Be Well….
