2) Shooting of medical workers must be condemned: Papua police chief
3) COVID-19 Outbreak among Inmates in Jayapura Detention Center
4) Six Papuan Activists Convicted of Treason Freed
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A google translate. Be-aware google translate can be a bit erratic.
Original bahasa link at
1) Four defendants of treason in Sorong were sentenced to 8 months, 15 days in prison
May 30, 2020 6:19 am Reporter: Admin Jubi
Papua No. 1 News Portal | Jubi Sorong, Jubi -
Sidang Putusan empat Tapol di Pengadilan Negeri Sorong – Jubi/Bastian
Four defendants of treason article in Sorong City, West Papua were finally convicted and sentenced to eight months and 15 days in prison at the Sorong District Court on Thursday (5/28/2020).
Four defendants on behalf of: Yoseph Laurens Syufi aka Siway Bofit, Ethus Paulus Miwak Kareth, Manase Baho, and Rianto Ruruk alias Herman Sabo were charged with alternative charges under article 110 paragraph (1) jo article 106 jo article 87 of the Criminal Code. The four were arrested after being involved in an action that took place on 18 September 2019, addressing the aspirations of 61 Papuan leaders and meeting with the President on 10 September 2019, after an anti-racism action took place throughout the Land of Papua. Chief Judge Willem Marco Erari, who was accompanied by two judges, members of Donald Sopacua and Dedi I Sahusilawane, said that the four defendants were found guilty of committing criminal offenses which disturbed the public.
"In our opinion, that is the best decision but it is also not necessarily fair for the four defendants. So we give legal counsel the opportunity to ask directly to the four defendants if they do not accept it, then an appeal can be made, "Willem said. When asked by the legal advisors and the public prosecutor to the four defendants, the four of them stated that they accepted the verdict. "Starting this Thursday the decision has permanent legal force," added Willem. Natalis Yewen as the general coordinator of the monkey action demanded justice said in person and represented solidarity friends thanking God, ancestors and West Papuan fighters because our friends could be sentenced to no more than a year.
“I also have to say that they were arrested not because they were guilty but this is a form of criminalization that is always carried out by the authorities to fellow activists who stand up to demand the rights of the Papuan people," he said. iWith this we also request that the political prisoners who are still detained can be given a decision of no more than 9 months because if more than that then this is injustice and we will go back to the streets to demand their justice and for the people of Papua, said Natalis.
(Bastian / CR-3 *) Editor: Angela Flassy
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(Note. OPM denies the allegation)
2) Shooting of medical workers must be condemned: Papua police chief
12 hours ago
Timika, Papua (ANTARA) - The recent attack on two medical workers by Papuan armed rebels cannot be justified on any ground and needs to be strongly condemned, Papua Police Chief, Inspector General Paulus Waterpauw, said on Friday.
"I have informed the central government about the incident, which needs to be strongly condemned. The shooting of the two medical workers who were on a humanitarian mission is really inhumane," he said in Timika, the capital of Mimika District.
On May 22, 2020, two medical workers — Almalek Bagau and Eunico Somou — from the Wandai Health Center in Intan Jaya District were reportedly shot by armed rebels while they were delivering drugs for COVID-19 patients.
According to police, Bagau and Somou were carrying walkie-talkie devices to communicate with the local COVID-19 post as there was no cellular network in the area. This led their attackers to mistake them for security personnel and open fire at them.
"If they (rebels) want to face military and police personnel, that's their business. But, they must not kill humanitarian workers. Instead of killing humanitarian workers, they must assist them and thank them," Waterpauw said.
The TNI and police have launched a hunt for the rebels who attacked the medical workers, he said, adding armed Papuan criminals have been carrying out acts of violence against security personnel and innocent civilians.
The security situation in Papua remains fragile due to acts of deadly violence attributed to Papuan separatists.
The rebels have engaged in frequent exchanges of fire with the Indonesian military and police personnel. The rebels have also launched deadly attacks on civilians over the past years, killing many of them.
As per Papua Police records, from early January to December 28, 2019, at least 23 shooting and criminal cases involving armed Papuan groups have claimed the lives of 10 members of the Indonesian police and military, as well as 10 civilians.
The armed groups mainly targeted the administrative areas of the districts of Puncak Jaya, Jayawijaya, Mimika, and Paniai in 2019, Waterpauw had remarked on December 28 last year. (INE)
Related news: Armed criminal group shoots medical workers in Papua
Related news: 34 medical workers in Papua exposed to COVID-19
EDITED BY INE
"I have informed the central government about the incident, which needs to be strongly condemned. The shooting of the two medical workers who were on a humanitarian mission is really inhumane," he said in Timika, the capital of Mimika District.
On May 22, 2020, two medical workers — Almalek Bagau and Eunico Somou — from the Wandai Health Center in Intan Jaya District were reportedly shot by armed rebels while they were delivering drugs for COVID-19 patients.
According to police, Bagau and Somou were carrying walkie-talkie devices to communicate with the local COVID-19 post as there was no cellular network in the area. This led their attackers to mistake them for security personnel and open fire at them.
"If they (rebels) want to face military and police personnel, that's their business. But, they must not kill humanitarian workers. Instead of killing humanitarian workers, they must assist them and thank them," Waterpauw said.
The TNI and police have launched a hunt for the rebels who attacked the medical workers, he said, adding armed Papuan criminals have been carrying out acts of violence against security personnel and innocent civilians.
The security situation in Papua remains fragile due to acts of deadly violence attributed to Papuan separatists.
The rebels have engaged in frequent exchanges of fire with the Indonesian military and police personnel. The rebels have also launched deadly attacks on civilians over the past years, killing many of them.
As per Papua Police records, from early January to December 28, 2019, at least 23 shooting and criminal cases involving armed Papuan groups have claimed the lives of 10 members of the Indonesian police and military, as well as 10 civilians.
The armed groups mainly targeted the administrative areas of the districts of Puncak Jaya, Jayawijaya, Mimika, and Paniai in 2019, Waterpauw had remarked on December 28 last year. (INE)
Related news: Armed criminal group shoots medical workers in Papua
Related news: 34 medical workers in Papua exposed to COVID-19
EDITED BY INE
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3) COVID-19 Outbreak among Inmates in Jayapura Detention Center
Translator: Non Koresponden
Editor: Laila Afifa
29 May 2020 16:17 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chief of the Papuan Human Rights Lawyers Association, Gustaf Rudolf Kawer, reported that dozens of inmates in the Jayapura Precinct detention center are now suspected to have been infected with COVID-19, due to the lack of isolation procedures for suspected COVID-19 positive inmates.
"The latest information is about 60 people, swab tested," Gustaf said when contacted, on Friday, May 29, 2020.
Gustaf revealed that the potential COVID-19 outbreak in the Jayapura Precinct detention center began in late May, with one inmate showing COVID-19 symptoms. Although the inmate had been treated, he was returned to the detention center soon after. “They said it was TBC,” said Gustaf.
After that point, the outbreak started to happen in the detention center, which houses about 90 inmates. Initially, 11 inmates were showing COVID-19 symptoms. The number then increased to 43, and again to more than 60 inmates.
According to Gustaf, the Jayapura police and the Papua COVID-19 Task Force have actually visited the detention center. Due to the detention center being over-occupied, the Police then relocated inmates to other detention centers in Jayapura. Admittedly, Gustaf fears that the relocation of inmates will instead spark a COVID-19 outbreak in other detention centers.
A spokesperson for the Papua COVID-19 Task Force, Silwanus Sumule, did not answer phone calls and messages sent by Tempo regarding this news. Likewise, Jayapura Police Chief Adj. Sr. Commissioner Gustav Urbinas, have not responded.
M ROSSENO AJI | Translator: DIO SUHENDA (Intern)
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4) Six Papuan Activists Convicted of Treason Freed
By Amanda Siddharta
May 29, 2020 06:10 PM
JAKARTA, INDONESIA - Six activists charged with treason in Jakarta for organizing a protest rally last August outside the presidential palace have been freed from prison.
Paulus Suryanta Ginting, Ambrosius Mulait, Charles Kosay, and Dano Anes Tabuni, along with the only woman in the group, Arina Elopere, were freed this past week.
Issay Wenda, the sixth person, was released April 28. He had been sentenced to eight months in prison, a month less than the others.
At the August 28 rally, a banned separatist flag was raised as activists protested an incident that occurred against Papuans earlier that month in Surabaya in East Java. The Morning Star flag is a symbol of independence for West Papua.
Over 40 students taken
In mid-August, Indonesian authorities stormed a university dormitory in Surabaya, where Papuan students live, concerning allegations someone desecrated the Indonesian flag in the building and threw it into a sewer. Police fired tear gas and took 43 students into custody, while an angry mob that had gathered outside the dormitory chanted, “Kick out Papua” and used racial slurs to describe the students.
The incident triggered nationwide protests and galvanized the pro-independence movement. The Ministry of Communication and Information responded by blocking the internet in Papua. After that happened, some Papuans burned the office of Telkom Indonesia in Jayapura, the capital of Papua.
Ginting, the spokesperson for the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP), said their indictment was unfair.
“None of us has the initiative; it never crossed our minds that we want to commit treason. We were only protesting; it was a standard rally to make a statement. The only difference there was that flag on August 28. I assumed it was the initiative from the people at the rally,” he told VOA.
'No intentions of treason'
Michael Hilman, a member of the legal team representing the activists, said that the facts and evidence presented in court proved they were only protesting because of the incident in Surabaya.
“There were no intentions of treason, or to attack the head of state, there was no violence whatsoever. But the judge’s decision did not take into account the facts,” he said in a statement.
Five of the six were supposed to be released three weeks earlier under a new decree by the Indonesian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. The decree initiated an assimilation program for prisoners who have served two-thirds of their prison sentences to be released early because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ginting said they signed the release documents on May 11 and had been tested for the coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease. At the last minute, they were told they could not be granted an early release because they were charged of treason.
“We suspect political pressure or alleged abuse of power by the authorities,” Hilman said. The Directorate General of Corrections at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has not responded to VOA’s requests for comments.
Repression in Papua 'getting worse'
Indonesia annexed the region of West Papua in 1969, after some of the population was forced to vote in favor of joining Indonesia. Since then, the area has become a hot spot of conflict with the government’s crackdown of separatist movements.
Veronica Koman, a human rights lawyer, said violations and impunity still occur in Papua.
“The repression in Papua is getting worse, because there’s a record of arrest in 2016. There were 5,136 arrests; that’s already during Jokowi’s regime,” she said, referring to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Failed promises?
The president made a promise to prioritize infrastructure development in Papua. But the president has never addressed the alleged human rights violations. Koman said if the conflict in Papua is not resolved, it will be a ticking time bomb ahead of a violent uprising.
“In a couple of years, there could be a (violent) incident. And then they’d ask, ‘Why did it happen?’ or ‘Who was the provocateur.’ Well, you’re making them (the Papuans) victims repeatedly and robbing them of their dignity,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ginting said he would continue to speak out about the problems in Papua, but he acknowledged there is little he can do during the pandemic. He said the arrests have created momentum for people to start a discussion on Papua.
“I think there are more people who are now curious. They want to find out what exactly is happening in Papua. A lot more people will be more open-minded,” he said.
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