Jakarta (ANTARA) - The first pretrial hearing of the suspects accused of treason, including the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-West Papua) spokesperson Surya Anta, was delayed by two weeks by the South Jakarta city court, Monday. The hearing was suspended because of the absence of the Jakarta Police or Polda Metro Jaya which is the defendant, the pretrial judge, Agus Widodo, explained.

"The hearing will be continued on November 25, 2019," the judge stated.

Before the adjournment, the lawyer of the accused appealed for a delay of just a week. However, Widodo as the sole judge, declined the request because the court had to respect the strict working hours of the police officers.

The Jakarta Police had detained Anta and his five mates, Charles Kossay, Dano Tabuni, Isay Wenda, Ambrosius Mulait, and Arina Elopere after they were named as suspects for treason.

The police accused the suspects of hurling West Papua's morning star flag, a symbol of the Papua independence movement, during a rally in front of Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, on August 28 this year.

Despite the suspects being arrested at different times and locations, they were all detained at the Mako Brimob detention center in Depok, West Java.

After months of detention, the suspects filed a pretrial hearing in the South Jakarta city court in October this year as they claimed the police had conducted unlawful investigations, confiscations, and arrests.

ANTARA was not able to immediately reach the police for comments.

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