Murder of Udin

Who is Murder of Udin?

Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin, best known by his pen name Udin, was an Indonesian journalist who was murdered in 1996. A reporter at the Yogyakarta, Java, daily newspaper Bernas, he published a series of articles on corruption in the Bantul Regency in the months before his death. On 13 August, he was attacked at his house by two unidentified assailants using a metal rod and taken to the hospital. He died three days later without regaining consciousness.

His murder became a national cause célèbre. Several independent inquiries concluded that local government officials had been involved. However, the Bantul police early on discounted a political motive. Instead, they arrested a local driver named Dwi Sumaji for the murder, alleging a motive of jealousy. Sumaji was later acquitted after the prosecution withdrew its case owing to a lack of evidence. The police in turn were successfully sued for their mishandling of the case and deliberate destruction of evidence. The murder has never been solved, and is expected to be unprosecutable after 2014 due to Indonesia's 18-year statute of limitations on murder.