Sander Thoenes (November 7, 1968 – September 21, 1999) was a Dutch journalist who was killed, near

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, by soldiers of the Indonesian army. He was shot when their paths crossed on a road as the Indonesians withdrew from the territory.

Early life

Thoenes was born in

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

, the Netherlands, the youngest of three brothers. He was educated at Gymnasium St. Jacobus college in Enschede (1981–1987) and studied English literature and modern Russian history at

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States (1987–1992). During his time at Hampshire college Thoenes learned to fluently speak and write Russian.

Career

After studying for his journalism career at the Centre for Investigative Reporting in San Francisco he moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in August, 1992. Here Thoenes worked for the English language paper Moscow Times. He went on to write for the Dutch weekly Vrij Nederland and served as correspondent for '' U.S. News & World Report'', where he reported from

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

in 1995. In 1996 he relocated to

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and covered

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, including

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

for the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

. In September, 1997 he moved to

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, still working as a correspondent for the Financial Times. There he reported the Asian Financial Crisis and the fall of President Suharto.

Death

On September 21, 1999, Thoenes was killed by soldiers from a company of the Indonesian Army's Battalion 745 as the unit withdrew from the territory, carrying out a deliberate, government-directed, scorched-earth policy as it went. These murders were just one in a string of similar incidents that marked the passage of the unit westward along the coast-road toward the Indonesian border. Thoenes was riding pillion on a local motorcycle taxi in the neighborhood of Becora, just east of

, when he encountered the column of motor-cyclists and heavy lorries as it approached Dili from the opposite direction. Australian-led UN peace-keepers discovered Thoenes’ body with gunshot-wounds in the back-yard of a house on a side-road. It was concluded Thoenes had been moved off the road to delay his being found and that he had also been shot at close range, with deliberation. Florindo Araujo, Thoenes' motorcycle taxi driver, told reporters that he was stopped by at least six men wearing gray Indonesian police uniforms at a roadblock while en route to Becora. Araujo and Thoenes sought to flee. Araujo managed to reach cover in the bush nearby and hide. He witnessed the execution of the injured Thoenes at the road-side. Two Indonesian army officers, Lt. Camilo dos Santos and Maj. Jacob Djoko Sarosa, were later blamed for his murder by a UN special investigator. Thoenes' death marked the first time a foreign reporter was killed in East Timor since 1975. In 2000, he received a posthumous

press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

award from the Washington D.C.–based National Press Club (NPC). The incident was the subject of a documentary, broadcast in October 2013, by fellow Dutch journalist Step Vaessen. On September 21, 1999, Vaessen was reporting from central Dili, together with her husband Andries, for

Nederlandse Omroep Stichting The (; NOS or rarely ; ) is one of the broadcasting organisations making up the Dutch public broadcasting system. It has a special statutory obligation to make news and sports programmes for the three Dutch public television channels and the ...

. She still works in the region, now as the

correspondent for international broadcaster

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

. The film was part of the ''Al Jazeera Correspondent'' series and featured an interview by the veteran South-East Asia journalist

Jon Swain Jon Anketell Brewer Swain (born 1948) is a British journalist and writer. Swain's book ''River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam ''chronicles his experiences from 1970 to 1975 during the Vietnam War, war in Indochina, including the Fall of Phnom Pen ...

, who narrowly avoided the same fate later that day, nearby on the same road. Vaessen interviewed General Wiranto, the overall Indonesian military commander at the time and former Presidential candidate, and BJ Habibie the President of Indonesia in 1999. The General suggested that the military had to obey government policy, whilst the President suggested he had no personal responsibility for the military's actions. The international community tends to indict only those who are already disowned.

Legacy

The ''Financial Times'' set up the Sander Thoenes Prize in his honour. The award offers recent journalism graduates, each year, a three-month internship at the ''Financial Times'' headquarters in London and a scholarship to cover living expenses. The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) announced a scholarship fund in his honor on September 7, 2006. The annual JFCC scholarship is awarded to support the training of East Timorese journalists.

, Thoenes' alma mater in Amherst MA. has th
Sander Thoenes research awards.
Awards are made from an endowment established by his friends from Hampshire and around the world. The award is given to Division III students working in journalism; documentary photography, film or video; international relations; globalization; peace-building; civil society and human rights.

External links

Sander Memorial siteFinancial Times
Sander Thoenes award

References