T

he Sorong Prosecutor'€™s Office in West Papua is pursuing graft convict Chief Brig. Labora Sitorus, a member of the Raja Ampat Police who has a bank account containing Rp 1.5 trillion (US$120 million).

Labora was declared a fugitive this week for refusing to serve his 15-year prison sentence and pay a fine of Rp 5 billion.

'€œLabora Sitorus has been included in the Sorong Prosecutor'€™s Office wanted list because he was not inside the Sorong Penitentiary when he should have been imprisoned following a Supreme Court decision,'€ said Sorong Prosecutor'€™s Office head Damrah Muin when contacted by The Jakarta Post in Sorong, West Papua.

Damrah added that his office had issued the wanted list because when officers were about to put Labora in jail, he was not in the Sorong prison or at his house in Sorong.

Labora'€™s detention was carried out following a decision by the Supreme Court, which overruled Labora'€™s appeal and handed down a 15-year sentence and a Rp 5 billion fine on Sept. 17, 2014.

Earlier, the Sorong District Court sentenced Labora to two years and fined him Rp 500 million for illegal logging and fuel stockpiling.

Prosecutors then filed for an appeal at the Papua High Court, which later accepted it and sentenced Labora to eight years.

Labora'€™s lawyer than filed for an appeal at the Supreme Court, which later rejected it and raised his sentence.

The Supreme Court'€™s decision letter was issued on Sept. 17, 2014, and the sentence was carried out on Nov. 4. 2014. However, the court did not move to confiscate Labora'€™s funds.

'€œWhoever sees defendant Labora Sitorus, immediately report to the Sorong Prosecutor'€™s Office so he can immediately serve his sentence,'€ Damrah said.

Sorong penitentiary warden Maliki Hasan said Labora left detention on March 17, 2014 on the grounds of ailment and according to the doctor who examined him, Labora was complaining of back pain and numbness to his left leg.

'€œSince leaving the prison, he never returned, so the Sorong Prosecutor'€™s Office issued a warrant of arrest,'€ said Maliki when reached in Sorong.

Maliki claimed he did not know the reason why Labora failed to return to the prison.

To recapture Labora, the prison authorities have coordinated with various relevant institutions.

Papua Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. Rudolf Patrige said police had received a letter from the Papua High Prosecutor'€™s Office to pursue Labora, whose whereabouts remain unclear as of now.

'€œIntelligence officers are currently conducting investigations into his whereabouts. We will coordinate with the prosecutor'€™s office this week to form a joint team to recapture Labora,'€ said Rudolf.

Meanwhile, legal observer Yan Warinussy said the absence of Labora at the prison without the knowledge of the prosecutors'€™ office was an irregularity since the convict was still under the prosecutors'€™ supervision.

'€œIf he (Labora) is now out of detention, who gave him the permit? It shows their are powerless against Labora,'€ Yan said.

The missing convict, Yan said, could incite suspicions that Labora cooperated with penitentiary officers to get released.

Labora made headlines in June two years ago after the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center discovered suspicious transactions of Rp 1.5 trillion in his name over the past five years.

Earlier, Labora said he wired money for '€œcharity-related programs'€ to several of his superiors.

Labora has also claimed that his wife, brother-in-law and children run PT Rotua, a timber company, and PT Seno Adi Wijaya, a mining and fuel company.

The Papua Police have confiscated 15,000 logs, 1,500 blocks and 81 containers of timber in Papua and Surabaya in late March 2013 from PT Rotua that were allegedly intended for export to China and three barges carrying 1 million liters of diesel fuel off Sorong, West Papua, from PT Seno Adi Wijaya.

The Surabaya state auction has auctioned off 63,786 cubic meters of Papuan merbau wood, 38,575 cubic meters of processed wood and 7,645,444 cubic meters of mixed wood types in 2013. The wood was shipped in April by PT Rotua.

However, the low-rank officer may have been involved in illicit activities several years ago.

Labora allegedly bootlegged cheap liquor in the 1990s, selling Cap Tikus, a traditional alcoholic drink from Manado, North Sulawesi, in Sorong.