2) Wife of Papua activist Surya Anta says he’s seriously ill, not getting treatment
3) Underage, IH should be discharged of charges, says legal counsel team
4) Hope for peace in Bougainville while West Papua endures
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1) Police accused of theft, illegal arrest at Papua treason pretrial hearing
CNN Indonesia – December 2, 2019
Papua Advocacy Team members Tigor Hutapea (left) and Oky Wiratama (right) – December 2, 2019 (CNN
Jakarta – The Papua Advocacy Team, which is assisting six Papuan activists who have been charged for raising the Morning Star independence flag, say that police committed theft, not legitimate seizure during their client’s arrest. The team believes that the raids, seizures and arrests by police were illegal.
This was revealed when the team read out the pretrial appeal in the case of alleged makar(treason, subversion, rebellion) involving the activists and Papuan students at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday December 2.
The defendant in the case, the Metro Jaya regional police, did not attend the hearing. This is the second time that the police have failed to appear at the pretrial hearing.
“The defendant carried out the arrest of the plaintiffs, members of the defendant [the police] committed theft, [they did] not conduct the seizures as regulated under the KUHAP [Criminal Procedural Code]”, said Papua Advocacy Team member Oky Wiratama.
The plaintiffs in the case are Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) spokesperson Surya Anta and five Papuan students, namely Issay Wenda, Arina Lokbere, Charles Kossay, Ambrosius Mulait and Dano Tabuni.
According to Wiratama, the arrests and raids were illegal because police did not have an arrest warrant from a local district court, the arrests and raids were not witnessed by representatives of the local neighbourhood association and community unit (RT/RW) and they did not have a warrant authorising the seizures.
“This conflicts with Article 33 Paragraph (1), Article 33 Paragraph (3) and Article 33 Paragraph (4) of the KUHAP”, said Wiratama.
The plaintiffs, who are currently being detained at Salemba prison in Jakarta, requested that the judge rule in favour of their appeal and order the Metro Jaya regional police to immediately release Anta and the other prisoners.
“[We ask that the judge] accept the pretrial appeal of the plaintiffs in its entirety”, said Wiratama. The sole judge hearing the case, Agus Widodo, plans to make a final ruling on the appeal next week on Tuesday December 10.
“Tomorrow the response from the defendant [will be heard], on Wednesday the plaintiffs will present evidence, on Thursday [evidence will be submitted] by the defendant, on Friday there will be concluding remarks. A ruling will be made on Tuesday (next week)”, said judge Widodo who immediately struck the gavel and closed the hearing.
As has been reported, the six were charged with alleged treason following a protest action in front of the State Palace in Jakarta on August 28 in which the Morning Star independence flag was flown.
They were arrested one after the other on August 30 and 31 and were subsequently declared suspects on charges of makar.
On October 22 the lawyers representing the suspects submitted a pretrial suit with the South Jakarta District Court. The Papua Advocacy Team believes that there were procedural irregularities in the arrest and charging of the suspects.
“Our clients were never summoned as witnesses [first], but all of a sudden arrested and declared suspects”, said advocacy team member Oky Wiratama.
On November 18 the six Papuan activists were transferred from the Mobile Brigade Command Headquarters Detention Centre to the Jakarta state prosecutor’s office and will soon be tried on charges of makar.
The police themselves claim that they followed correct procedures with National Police Public Information Bureau Head Brigadier General Argo Yuwono asking all parties to look at the facts during the upcoming trial.
“Just wait for the trial, let everything come out in the open like what actually happened”, Yuwono told CNN Indonesia on Wednesday November 20. (mjo/arh)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Tim Advokasi Papua Sebut Polisi Merampas, Bukan Menyita”.]
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2) Wife of Papua activist Surya Anta says he’s seriously ill, not getting treatment
CNN Indonesia – December 2, 2019
Surya Anta’s wife Lucia Fransisca speaking to journalists – December 2, 2019 (CNN
Jakarta – The wife of Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) spokesperson Surya Anta, Lucia Fransisca, says that her husband was treated differently from other patients when he underwent a medical examination at the prison clinic.
As has been reported, Anta and five other Papuan students, Issay Wenda, Arina Lokbere, Charles Kossay, Ambrosius Mulait and Dano Tabuni, were recently transferred from the Mobile Brigade Command Headquarters Detention Centre and are now being held at the Salemba prison in Jakarta.
“A doctor examined Surya, but not the way a patient is normally examined by a doctor. It was from a distance [without a physical examination], what’s going on with Surya?”, Fransisca told journalists following a pretrial hearing against their arrest at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday December 2.
Fransisca explained that she visited Anta on Friday November 29 and found that he and the other Papuan detainees were ill and had not received proper medical treatment.
She suspects that Anta is either suffering from an acute respiratory infection (ISPA) or dengue fever. This, she said, is based on her own observations of her husband who is lying in bed, is weak, nauseous, has a cold sweat and had suffered a high fever throughout the day.
Because of this therefore, she also said that a blood test is needed to find out what illness Anta is actually suffering from. “[He’s] only been given ordinary medication to bring down the fever. How can this be?”, she asked. “[He] should have a blood test to be sure”, she added.
Fransisca explained that all of the political prisoners in the alleged makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) case are being detained under inhuman conditions.
She explained that Salemba prison is already suffering from over capacity, there is a lack of clean drinking water and the food provided is made from low quality rice used in programs for the poor (raskin).
The six were charged with makar following a demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on August 28 in which the Morning Star independence flag was flown.
They were arrested one after the other on August 30 and 31 and were subsequently declared suspects on charges of makar.
On October 22 the lawyers representing the suspects submitted a pretrial suit with the South Jakarta District Court. The Papua Advocacy Team believes that there were procedural irregularities in the arrest and charging of the suspects.
“Our clients were never summoned as witnesses [first], but all of a sudden arrested and declared suspects”, said advocacy team member Oky Wiratama.
On November 18 the six Papuan activists were transferred from the Mobile Brigade Command Headquarters Detention Centre to the Jakarta State Prosecutor and will soon be tried on charges of makar.
The police themselves claim that they followed correct procedures with National Police Public Information Bureau Head Brigadier General Argo Yuwono asking all parties to look at the facts during the upcoming trial.
“Just wait for the trial, let everything come out in the open like what actually happened”, Yuwono told CNN Indonesia on Wednesday November 20. (mjo/kid)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Istri Duga Surya Anta Idap ISPA dan Tak Dirawat dengan Wajar”.]
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3) Underage, IH should be discharged of charges, says legal counsel team
Published 3 days ago on 30 November 2019
By Admin1
Jayapura, Jubi – In a hearing of exception against the defendant IH which took place in the Jayapura District Court on Wednesday (13/11/2019), the defendant’s legal counsel team state their client IH should be discharged of charges referring he is still 17 years old. IH is one of the alleged perpetrators in a violent act during a mass riot that occurred in Jayapura, Papua, on 29 August 2019. In this sense, his legal counsel team said their client must be released and obtain his reputation back.
In the preliminary hearing, public attorney Adrianus Tomana has charged the defendant IH with Article 170 paragraph 2 (1) of the Criminal Code (KUHP) in conjunction with Article 64 paragraph 1 or 2, Article 170 paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 64 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code (KUHP). However, his legal counsel team stated in the exception that both the arrest and detention as well as conviction of the defendant are against the Law No. 11 of 2012 concerning the Juvenile Judicial System.
Moreover, the defendant’s legal counsel team claimed to have evidence showing their client is only 17 years old but being treated as an adult and brought to trial in the Jayapura District Court. Based on this fact, the legal counsel team emphasised the fact, and the legal counsel team stressed that their client IH must be considered underage that made illegal for being tried in the Jayapura District Court.
“We strongly condemn the trial against IH since his arrest because it was against the Law No. 11 of 2012 concerning Juvenile Justice System (SPPA),” said advocate Sugeng Teguh Santoso.
Santoso further said under Law No. 11, those –investigators, prosecutors, or judges—who conduct trials against children involved crime would consider violating the law. “We have assumed that both investigators and prosecutor did not apply the Juvenile Justice System towards our client IH. As a result, they might face a maximum two years sentence or a maximum of two hundred million rupiahs fine,” said Santoso, who is also the Secretary-General of the Indonesian Advocates Association (Peradi).
Moreover, the legal counsel team of IH in exception asked the Panel of Judges to discharge their client and approve to discontinue the case referring to the law. They also asked the Court to restore the pride, dignity and reputation of their client IH.
By contrast, public attorney Adrianus Tomana said exception by legal counsel team was contradictive with the defendant’s statement confirming there was a mistake in printing his age as 17 years old in his school certificate. Tomana said that IH has confessed that he is already 18 years old.
“We have asked for a further statement from a dentist. According to the dentist, this boy has already been 18 years old. We will give our response on exception next week. Once we obtain a confirmation, there would be no debate on the age anymore,” he said. (*)
Reporter: Hengky Yeimo
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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4) Hope for peace in Bougainville while West Papua endures
Voting that started on Saturday 23 November, in the long-awaited referendum over independence for formerly war-torn Bougainville, has seen great shows of reconciliation and optimism.
That is in contrast against the crisis and violence still going on in the neighbouring territory of West Papua.
Bougainville and West Papua both have overwhelmingly Melanesian populations and culture. They are restlessly subordinated as provinces of two other states, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Indonesia, both unwilling to let go of their rich minerals deposits. Demands for self-determination and democracy have met with violent suppression and over many years have seen armed insurgency.
Bougainville's long war
North-east of the big island of New Guinea, the independence movement on the island of Bougainville, since Papua New Guinea’s independence in 1975, is a well-worn story. As a PNG province, it blew apart over the big open-cut Panguna mine, producing copper, silver and gold. Cultural frictions began over workers brought from “mainland” PNG, environmental destruction and demands of landowning villages wanting larger royalties.
A resistance group, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) fought campaigns against PNG forces, in alliance with other local militias, and against militias aligned with PNG. The confused struggle raged over a decade from 1988, aggravated by conflicting clan loyalties and forcing the shut-down of the mine………………………...
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