Satrio Arismunandar (born 1961) was a student movement activist from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. He founded the

Alliance of Independent Journalists The Alliance of Independent Journalists ( id, Aliansi Jurnalis Independen, abbreviated as AJI) is an Indonesian organization that promotes press freedom in the country. The AJI was founded in 1994 by Satrio Arismunandar, Ahmad Taufik, Goenawan Moh ...

(AJI) in 1994, as an organization that opposed the

Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...

regime and has since become Indonesia's leading body for journalists. Its involvement in the labor movement led to him being forced to step down from the daily newspaper

Kompas ''Kompas'' () is an Indonesian national newspaper from Jakarta which was founded on 28 June 1965. The paper is published by PT Kompas Media Nusantara, which is a part of Kompas Gramedia Group. Its head office is located at the Kompas Multimed ...

in 1995.

Education and student activities

He was born in

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

, on 11 April 1961 as the first child of six children in the Wiharto Arismunandar family. He graduated from 14th National Middle School in

East Jakarta ) in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), Jatinegara railway station and Museum of Transportation at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. , image_seal = Lambang Kota Jakarta Timur.png , motto = , image_map ...

in 1980, and graduated from a major in electronics from the

University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dut ...

(UI) in 1989. His father, a middle officer in the Indonesian airforce, died from disease just ten days before Satrio graduated from UI. Satrio's activities as a student were varied. He was a member of the Democratic Student Body, a head of the Electronics Students Association, member of the nature lover association, editing the campus newspaper and active in the local

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

. He also participated in receiving new members for the

Muslim Students' Association The Muslim Students Association, or Muslim Student Union, of the U.S. and Canada, also known as MSA National, is a religious organization dedicated to establishing and maintaining Islamic societies on college campuses in Canada and the United Sta ...

in 1981 and became a member of the ISAFIS (The Indonesian Student Association for International Studies), although in the end he decided to concentrate on journalism related activities on campus. After working from 1986 to 1995 as a journalist, he went back to do a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Defence Studies at the University of Indonesia, and graduated in August, 2000. His thesis was on ''The role of student journalism in the student movement in 1998: A case study of the bulletin Move! at the time of stopping president

'', which became the material for a book.

Journalistic experience

Since he was a student, Satrio had already worked as a freelance writer (1981–1986), journalist for the daily Harian Pelita (1986–1988), the daily

(1988–1995), the magazine D&R (1997–2000). As a journalist in Kompas, he became a specialist on the politics of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and international conflict, after reporting from the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and the conflict in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. He now works in television

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arismunandar, Satrio 1961 births Living people Indonesian journalists Indonesian activists People from Semarang