Jakarta, 11 June 1976
O.JA7180 SECRET AUSTEO IMMEDIATE
East Timor: Five Journalists
General Adenan (Foreign Ministry) spoke to me 11 June about our representations yesterday concerning the five journalists.1
- He said that he had been instructed to say that our request to the Indonesian Government to follow up matters concerning the five journalists had been ‘rejected’.
- When I sought elaboration he said there was nothing more to add except to repeat that our request to the Indonesian Government had been rejected. He declined to discuss the matter further.2
[NAA:A1838, 3038/10/12/4, v]
- 1 See Document 464.
- 2 Official Australian reporting, dated 9 June, was to the effect that the Indonesian Government did not know the exact circumstances of what occurred at Balibo in October 1975 but believed that the journalists had been killed by Indonesian troops, and probably in the course of battle.