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This story contains images that readers may find confronting.
Tempo, a weekly magazine known for its hard-hitting reporting and investigations into Indonesia's most powerful institutions, has received all sorts of threats: bomb scares, doxing, phone hijacking.
Last week, they received a package containing a pig's head with its ears cut off.
It was sent anonymously and addressed to political reporter Francisca Christy Rosana, who also had her contact details posted online along with threatening messages.
A box containing six decapitated rats was later found by a cleaner at Tempo's Jakarta office.
Bagja Hidayat, the deputy chief editor of the magazine, described the attack as a "new form of terror" against civil society and the media.
"I believe this kind of intimidation is more severe than previous threats," he told the ABC.
"How can someone try to instil fear by killing living creatures?
"It shows not only cowardice but also a complete lack of morality."
Indonesian police launched a preliminary investigation on Monday, after press freedom groups accused authorities of not taking the incidents seriously.
Asked to respond to the incident last week, Hasan Nasbi, a spokesperson for President Prabowo Subinato, said the journalists should "just cook" the pig's head.
Mr Nasbi later clarified his statement, asserting there had been "no change in the government's commitment to press freedom".
Tempo has reported critically on Mr Subianto's administration including controversial cuts to public service budgets and legislative changes allowing greater involvement of the military in civilian affairs which sparked nationwide protests.
'Chilling effect'
Hidayat said Rosana, the journalist who received the animal carcasses, was still "traumatised" a week after the incident last Wednesday.
"Her mother's WhatsApp was also hacked by an unknown man," he said.
"This was a multi-layered attack. Of course, Cica [Rosana] is deeply worried especially since it is now affecting people beyond just herself."
Bayu Wardhana, the secretary-general of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), said the incident may also have a "chilling effect" on other journalists around the country.
He said this would particularly be the case if they weren't supported by their newsrooms.
"After this incident, there will be journalists who will be braver in telling stories, but also those who may rethink what they are going to write," said the senior journalist.
"This terror would intensify the fears of journalists who are already receiving threats."
Wardhana added that attacks and threats targeting media outlets in Indonesia often led to "dead ends" or were never fully resolved, and that there needed to be police and other law enforcement reforms to address this issue.
Anita Wahid, a PhD scholar researching political disinformation at the Australian National University, said threats against Tempo also reflected growing danger for Indonesian journalists and was intended to promote self-censorship.
"Why are they silencing the biggest news media out there, the one that is most trusted?" she said.
"The message is very clear — whoever it is that sent it wants Tempo to be silent and stop criticising the government."
'Journalists at the forefront of justice'
For retired civil servant Maria Catarina Sumarsih, the attack was reminiscent of tactics used during the Suharto "New Order" administration to silence "those who speak the truth".
Ms Sumarsih's son Wawan was shot dead in late 1998 while helping a wounded student during a violent crackdown on protesters calling for an end to Suharto's rule.
She has been protesting outside the Indonesian presidential palace every Thursday afternoon since 2007, demanding justice for her son.
"Even if the authorities claim this is not an act of terror, for us, the victims of human rights violations, sending a pig's head and [decapitated] rats to Tempo is exactly the kind of intimidation used in the New Order era," she said.
In 1994, the Tempo magazine was banned by the regime of late dictator Suharto, who was Mr Subianto's father-in-law, after they published an investigative report criticising the purchase of used East German warships.
Last week, Ms Sumarsih and other civil society members visited Tempo's office to encourage Rosana, and presented her with a bouquet of white roses.
"Journalists are at the forefront of our fight for justice," she said.
"No matter what we do, if it is not covered and reported by journalists, it will mean nothing."
'We must not give up'
Hidayat said he hopes that police would swiftly identify those behind the threats against Tempo.
"I don't think it's difficult to find the perpetrators," he said.
"The package was sent used a delivery app, there was a pick-up location, and the sender's identity should be on record. It should be an easy case for the police.
"If law enforcement acts decisively, it will serve as a deterrent for anyone considering similar intimidation in the future."
The Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists has recorded more than 1,000 incidents of violence against media workers since 2006.
Tempo's offices have been previously targeted, including a molotov cocktail attack in 2010 after it published a major investigation into police corruption.
At an event marking Indonesia's National Press Day last month, Mr Subianto warned against "fake news" and ordered journalists to "contribute to national development".
Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights also announced on Monday it would be undertaking an investigation.
The Committee to Protect Journalists' Asia head Beh Lih Yi said the delivery of the pig's head was "a dangerous and deliberate act of intimidation".
"Tempo is well-known internationally for its fiercely independent reporting; using this playbook from autocrats elsewhere simply will not work," she said.
"President Prabowo Subianto must uphold press freedom and condemn this highly provocative act if he wants Indonesia to be taken seriously as the world's third-largest democracy."
