1) Netherlands notes progress on police training in Papua

2) Labor Sitars Turns Himself in to Police on Monday Morning

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http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/298342/netherlands-notes-progress-on-police-training-in-papua

1) Netherlands notes progress on police training in Papua

Updated 7 minutes ago

The Netherlands government says it's received positive feedback about the Indonesian community policing training programme it supports in West Papua.

The deputy head of political affairs at the Netherlands Embassy in Indonesia, Maarten van den Bosch, has just visited the Papua region where he checked on the progress of the programme.

Jointly operated by the International Organisation for Migration with Dutch funding, it is training over five thousand personnel in community policing across three provinces: Papua, West Papua and Maluku.

Mr van der Bosch said the programme had been establishing community policing forums at provincial, district and sub-district levels where police and communities meet each other in informal settings to discuss a range of issues affecting them.

He said within these forums, relationships between community and the police are growing because communication is improving.

Mr van der Bosch said that national and provincial government see the programme as a tool to have a better understanding on what is happening in Papua's communities.

"Communities also see that this programme helps them also with engaging with the police. The police acknowledge that it requires a change of mindset, since this is all about prevention, and not about enforcement. I think about the results so far, that the Indonesian police are very satisfied with it, and they see the benefits of community policing."

Maarten van den Bosch

Maarten van den Bosch said the programme, which began in 2013 and is due to conclude later this year, could hopefully be replicated in other parts of Indonesia.

New Zealand previously ran a community policing training programme in West Papua, which involved a small contingent of New Zealand personnel on the ground.

The programme had early installations around 2009 and 2010 however later plans to roll out a more extensive version of the programme were axed by Indonesia in 2014.

A senior official in the Indonesian police at the time cited concerns that the programme might have had a hidden motive as being the reason for its cancellation.

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http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/labora-sitorus-turns-police-monday-morning/

2) Labor Sitars Turns Himself in to Police on Monday Morning

By : Fana Suparman & Erwin C Sihombing | on 2:33 PM March 07, 2016

Jakarta. A former police officer turned convict who escaped from West Papua's Sorong Prison last week turned himself in to authorities in the early hours of Monday (07/03).

Labora Sitorus, a former officer of the Raja Ampat Police, made national headlines in 2014 after anti-money laundering agency the PPATK found the low-ranking officer had Rp 1.5 trillion ($114 million) in his bank accounts.

Labora was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of illegal logging and fuel smuggling charges in September 2014, but fled last week after convincing prison officials he was in need of medical treatment.

Labora attended the Sorong District Police station on his own via motorcycle taxi at 3:00 a.m. local time on Monday.
“He turned himself in to the Sorong Police this morning. I already sent a team to confirm and yes, Labora was there,” Justice Ministry official I Wayan Kusmiantha Dusak said on Monday.
The Sorong Prison had granted Labora permission to undergo medical treatment at local hospital, however while in transit he requested treatment at his Sorong home instead.
When police arrived at his home on Friday morning to check on the prisoner before transferring him from the Sorong Prison to the Cipinang Prison, East Jakarta, he had already fled.
Dusak said that the transfer process would resume once the police were finished questioning the convict.