| Sander Thoenes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 November 1968 Enschede, Netherlands |
| Died | 21 September 1999 (aged 30) Dili, East Timor |
| Occupation | Broadcaster, journalist |
| Years active | 1992–1999 |
Sander Thoenes (November 7, 1968 – September 21, 1999) was a Dutch journalist who was killed in Dili, East Timor, while covering the arrival of peacekeeping troops with the International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor.[1]
Contents |
Thoenes was born in Enschede, the Netherlands, the youngest of three brothers.[2] He was educated at Gymnasium St. Jacobus college in Enschede (1981-1987) and studied English literature and modern Russian history at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA (1987-1992). During his time at Hampshire college Theones learned to speak and write Russian fluently.
After studying for his journalism career at the Centre for Investigative Reporting in San Francisco he moved to Moscow 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 and World Report where he reported from Chechnya in 1995. In 1996 he relocated to Almaty, Kazakhstan and covered Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan for the Financial Times. In September, 1997 he moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, still working as a correspondent for the Financial Times. There he reported the Asian Financial Crisis and the fall of President Suharto.
Australian-led UN peace keepers discovered Thoenes’ body with fatal gunshot wounds in the back yard of a house near the East Timorese capital of Dili on September 21, 1999.[1]. Florindo Araujo, a motorcycle driver who was transporting Thoenes on the day of his murder, told reporters that he was stopped by at least six men wearing gray Indonesian police uniforms at a roadblock while on route to Becora, a suburb of Dili. Araujo and Thoenes turned around and were pursued by the police who opened fire, brought the motorcycle down and continued to shoot. Araujo managed to run to cover in nearby jungle, still under fire. He said the last time he saw Thoenes, he was lying on the road where he was executed. Two Indonesian army officers, Lt. Camilo dos Santos and Maj. Jacob Djoko Sarosa were believed to be responsible for his murder.[3]
Thoenes' death marked the first time a foreign reporter died in East Timor since 1975.[4] He posthumously received a press freedom award from the Washington D.C. based National Press Club (NPC) in 2000.
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.[5]
The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) announced a scholarship fund in his honor on September 7, 2006.[6] The annual JFCC scholarship is awarded to support the training of East Timorese journalists.