Balibo Five: Investigation into deaths of five journalists dropped by Australian Federal Police

Updated

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has abandoned a war crimes investigation into the killing of five Australian newsmen at Balibo in East Timor in 1975.

Five years ago the AFP launched an investigation into the deaths of Brian Peters, 29, Malcolm Rennie, 28, Gary Cunningham, 27, Gregory Shackleton, 29, and Anthony Stewart, 21, who were reporting on Indonesian military action.

In 2007, New South Wales deputy state coroner Dorelle Pinch found the five men died at Balibo in Timor Leste, also known as East Timor, on October 16, 1975.

In her inquest into the death of Peters, Ms Pinch concluded the men "died from wounds sustained when (they) were shot and or stabbed deliberately, and not in the heat of battle, by members of the Indonesian special forces, including (Commander) Christoforus Da Silva and Captain Yunus Yosfiah on the orders of Captain Yosfiah to prevent (them) from revealing that Indonesian special forces had participated in the attack on Balibo".

The AFP confirmed in a statement to the ABC they had abandoned their investigation into the killing of the men, who came to be known as the Balibo Five.

"The AFP has conducted an extensive review of the investigation," the statement read.

"During the investigation the AFP identified challenges associated with establishing jurisdiction. The investigation continued in an effort to overcome those issues.

"However, the AFP has concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence to prove an offence.

"As a result, the AFP has exhausted all inquiries in relation to this matter and will be taking no further action.

"The AFP has had ongoing consultation with the families throughout this complex and difficult investigation. Family members based in Australia and the United Kingdom were briefed by senior AFP investigators this evening."

The AFP said the men's families have been informed of the decision.

In 2009, former Indonesian soldier Gatot Purwanto told the ABC the men were shot deliberately but not executed.

A few months after the deaths of the Balibo Five, another Australian journalist, Roger East, was killed in Indonesia.

The Australian film Balibo, which is about the five men as seen through the eyes of East, was released in 2009.

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, police, australia, east-timor

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