2) TAPOL’s Condolences upon the Death of Zode Hilapok
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https://en.jubi.id/one-of-the-morning-star-flyers-died-of-illness/
1) One of the Morning Star flyers died of illness
Raising Morning Star - News Desk
25 October 2022
Jayapura, Jubi – One of the eight activists who raised the Morning Star flag at Cenderawasih Sport Center on December 1, 2021, Zode Hilapok, died after being treated at the Yowari Regional General Hospital, Jayapura Regency, on Saturday morning, October 22, 2022.
Zode Hilapok’s passing was confirmed by Christianus Dogopia, one of Zode’s relatives. “Zode Hilapok’s body has been sent to the funeral home in Wamena,” Dogopia said when contacted by Jubi via telephone call on Monday.
Previously, Zode Hilapok and his friends, namely Melvin Yobe (29), Melvin Fernando Waine (25), Devion Tekege (23), Yosep Ernesto Matuan (19), Maksimus Simon Petrus You (18), Lius Kitok Uropmabin (21), and Ambrosius Fransiskus Elopere (21)-were arrested by police on December 1, 2021, when they marched in front of the Papua Police headquarters carrying Morning Star flags and banners with the Morning Star on it.
Since being detained, Zode’s health has been deteriorating. Dogopia said on December 12, 2021, Zode began experiencing symptoms of illness, feeling fatigued and sleepy. At that time, Zode lost weight dramatically.
“At that time he ate only rice, without side dishes, or with vegetables but in small portions. Otherwise, his stomach hurt or he would become nauseated. His bowel movements were bloody,” Dogopia said, describing Zode Hilapok’s health condition at the Papua Police Detention Center.
On April 11, 2022, the case files of Zode Hilapok and his friends who were charged with treason were transferred to the Jayapura District Court. However, on April 11, 2022, Zode’s health deteriorated again. The reading of the indictment for Zode Hilapok and his friends, which was supposed to be held on April 19, 2022, had to be postponed because Zode Hilapok was still unwell.
On April 25, 2022, Chief Judge RF Tampubolon finally suspended Zode Hilapok’s detention based on the medical examination results by the doctor of the Abepura Penitentiary clinic, Evelien J Kailalo, who concluded that Hilapok’s health condition required further treatment.
On April 26, 2022, Zode Hilapok was admitted to Dok 2 Hospital, Jayapura City.
On May 17, 2022, the panel of judges finally decided to suspend the examination of Zode Hilapok and ordered the public prosecutor to separate Zode Hilapok’s case file from the other defendants
The trial continued to examine seven other defendants. On August 29, 2022, the panel of judges found Melvin Yobe and others guilty of treason. They were each sentenced to 10 months in prison from the day they were detained.
On September 27, 2022, all seven of them were released after serving 10 months in prison.
The treason case against Zode Hilapok was never tried as he continued to be ill. On October 22, 2022, Zode Hilapok passed away at Yowari Hospital, Jayapura Regency. (*)
TAPOL expresses its sadness at the passing of Zode Hilapok, a West Papuan political prisoner, on 22nd October 2022. Zode was one of eight people accused of treason for raising the Morning Star flag above Cenderawasih Sports Centre in Jayapura on 1st December 2021.
Whilst the other defendants finished their 10 month prison sentences at the end of September, Zode was yet to stand trial due to ill health. He was receiving treatment, as his health condition began to deteriorate.
Zode’s symptoms began to appear when he was detained by Papua’s Regional Police. At the time, he admitted feeling weak and experiencing acute onset of bowel problems, with blood and pus in his stools. He was admitted to Bhayangkara Hospital for three weeks, where he then tested positive for Covid-19.
At Bhayangkara Hospital, he was placed in an inadequate room. The area was only about nine square meters, poorly ventilated, there were only two simple folding beds, one of which was Zode's bed. The room was far from the toilet. According to one of Zode’s lawyers, Anum Siregar, this condition coupled with the stigma of being a treason suspect and neglecting his humanity, made not only his physical condition decline but also made him experience psychological disturbance. It is no wonder that Zode tried to escape and made a suicide attempt there.
Zode’s health condition worsened again one week after being transferred to Abepura Prison on 1st April 2022, where he began to suffer a fever and had trouble breathing. The detainees were then reportedly held in a special isolation room. Lawyers and Prison staff reported the health condition of the student of Fajar Timur Philosophy and Theology High School, requesting the Papua High Prosecutor’s Office to grant Zode access to health services but the request wasn’t fulfilled until 25th April 2022.
Zode was allowed to receive medicine in his family home in Sentani from 26th April until 10th May 2022, when the Papua High Prosecutor’s Office returned Zode to Abepura Prison. Not long afterwards, he was rushed to Jayapura Dok II General Hospital, where he received treatment for two weeks, with no access allowed for visitors.
Dok II General Hospital reportedly then allowed Zode home to be looked after by his family. However, his condition worsened again and he was rushed to Yowari General Hospital in Sentani. After some time of being treated there, Zode passed away on 22nd October 2022 at 00:15 Papua time.
There has been no official statement from any of the hospitals mentioned above regarding the illness Zode was suffering. Several lawyers and friends suspect Zode was suffering from tuberculosis or lung disease, meaning that his stamina continuously declined. His condition was suspected to have worsened due to the conditions in Papua Regional Police detention and Abepura Prison, which are poorly ventilated, as well as the delays in getting access to healthcare.
If Zode indeed suffered from Tuberculosis, there is a legal obligation for him to receive healthcare and to be detained in conditions appropriate for someone suffering from that illness. This is important, as defendants’ rights to healthcare are regulated according to Article 58 of Criminal Law Procedures Code and Health Ministry Regulation No. 67 of 2016, concerning the eradication of Tuberculosis. These regulations must be followed for those who have been determined as suspects, which would have applied while Zode was detained by Papua Regional Police and when he was detained in Abepura Prison under the custody of the Prosecutor.
This issue with detention facility conditions being too poor for Tuberculosis sufferers such as Zode is not new. The lawyer of political prisoner Victor Yeimo, Emmanuel Gobay, has previously complained about this issue when reviewing the detention facilities at Abepura Prison. According to Gobay, the detention room was very cramped, leading to prisoners being jammed together with minimum ventilation or access to sunlight, leading to unsafe conditions and increasing the risk of spreading disease. This is a frequent occurrence in West Papua.
Zode’s death raises a question. How far was the government, in particular the Prosecutor’s Office, really willing to go to look after and allow access to good health services to Zode as a political prisoner? As a defendant, Zode was under the authority and responsibility of the prosecutor, but the prosecutor delayed the provision of health services and facilities to him. The government must evaluate the condition of its detention facilities and healthcare provision for detainees, ensuring that what happened to Zode never happens again.
Jayapura, Jubi – The spokesperson for the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), Ones Suhuniap, questioned why the police searched the house of KNPB activist Stevanus Itlay in Sentani, the capital of Jayapura Regency, on Sunday, October 23, 2022. Suhuniap considered the police’s reason for searching Steven Itlay’s house for a stolen motorcycle to be far-fetched.
Suhuniap said a group of plainclothes police came to Steven Itlay’s house in Ariau Village. “The police came in four cars. They were in plain clothes but carried weapons. During the search, they did not show a house search letter to the house owner,” Suhuniap said in a written press statement received by Jubi on Sunday.
The police eventually did not find any evidence in Steven Itlay’s house. “The police told the family at home that the purpose of their arrival was to look for a missing motorcycle around the Ariau Village area,” Suhuniap said.
Suhuniap believed that the police had other reasons to search Steven Itlay’s house. However, the police failed to find the thing that could be used as an excuse to arrest Steven Itlay. “During the search, there was no arrest of Steven Itlay,” Suhuniap said.
Steven Itlay is a KNPB activist who was once the chairman of KNPB Mimika. In 2019, he became one of the Papuan activists arrested following a wave of anti-racism protests that sprung up in various cities to protest racism against Papuan students at the Kamasan III Papuan Student Dormitory in Surabaya on August 16, 2019.
Steven Itlay along with six other Papuan activists were later charged with treason and tried at the Balikpapan District Court in East Kalimantan. On June 17, 2020, the panel of judges at the Balikpapan District Court found Steven Itlay guilty of treason and sentenced him to 11 months in prison. On August 7, 2020, Steven Itlay was released after completing his sentence.
Ones Suhuniap said the police had also previously accused Steven Itlay of being involved in motorcycle theft. On February 4, 2022, Steven Itlay was arrested in Sentani along with seven other people. At that time, the police also accused Steven Itlay of the same reason. However, Steven Itlay was released on the same day.
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