Yunus Yosfiah Yunus Yosfiah , ( also Muhammad Yunus Yosfiah , born 7 August 1944 , Rapang , South Sulawesi , Indonesia , ethnicity : Bugis ) , is the most decorated member of the Indonesian army . Yosfiah served as Minister of Information in the Indonesian Government in 1998 and 1999 . Action in East Timor . Balibo Five . In 1975 , whilst a Captain leading an Indonesian special forces unit into Balibo , East Timor , it is alleged that Yosfiah opened fire on Australian based journalists attempting to surrender , and ordered his men to do the same . After being killed , some of the journalists ' bodies were dressed in Portuguese army uniforms and photographed with machine guns as if they had been killed fighting against the Indonesian forces . In February 2007 Mark Tedeschi QC , the counsel assisting the coroner at the inquest into the death of one of the journalists killed , Brian Peters , said Yosfiah had not responded to invitations to appear at the inquest . New South Wales Deputy State Coroner Dorelle Pinch in her finding found that : ' Brian Raymond Peters , in the company of fellow journalists Gary James Cunningham , Malcolm Harvie Rennie , Gregory John Shackleton and Anthony John Stewart , collectively known as “ the Balibo Five ” , died at Balibo in Timor - Leste on 16 October 1975 from wounds sustained when he was shot and / or stabbed deliberately , and not in the heat of battle , by members of the Indonesian Special Forces , including Christoforus da Silva and " Captain Yunus Yosfiah " on the orders of Captain Yosfiah , to prevent him from revealing that Indonesian Special Forces had participated in the attack on Balibo . ' Several witnesses , including former operatives of the Timorese forces supporting the Indonesian invasion ( UDT and Apodeti ) identified Yosfiah as a key participant in the murder of the journalists ( ibid . ) . As a consequence Coroner Pinch issued a report on 16 November 2007 that concluded he had participated in a war crime in being involved in the murders , punsihable under the Geneva convention which Indonesia was and is a signatory to . with recommendation for prosecution to go to the ( Australian ) Federal Attorney General . Nicolau dos Reis Lobato . He is also alleged to have killed Nicolau dos Reis Lobato , leader of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor in 1978 . Minister of Information . Yosfiah served as Minister of Information in the Habibie government in 1998 and 1999 . His actions in removing restrictions on media and other forms of communication , including lifting media bans , have been described as , " One of the great breakthroughs of the Habibie administration " . Alleged funding of East Timor militias . It has been alleged that in 1999 Yosfiah was involved in channeling Indonesian government money to East Timorese militia groups prior to the East Timor independence vote and its bloody aftermath . After retiring from TNI . Yosfiah retired from the TNI in 1999 . In 2002 Yosfiah became a member of the Muslim - based United Development Party ( PPP ) . Yosfiah was General Secretary of PPP in December 2003 . In February 2007 Yosfiah unsuccessfully contested the election for party chairmanship of the PPP . Timeline . Except where previously or otherwise cited the information in the timeline is from " Indonesia " a " Southeast Asia Program Publications " journal of Cornell University . Classmates in National Military Academy , Class 6 . Traditions within the Indonesian military link together the advancement of members of an Academy class . Yosfiah ' s classmates were : References . Archived " The Jakarta Post " articles require free registration before viewing .