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AGO appoints 34 prosecutors in Paniai case
The AGO attorneys will draft an indictment of human rights violations that occurred in Paniai, Papua.
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Indigenous community members gather in Paniai regency, Papua Central Highlands, to protest against racial abuse against Papuans on Aug. 26, 2019. (JP/Courtesy of Dominikus Surabut)
T
he Attorney General’s Office has appointed a team of 34 attorneys as public prosecutors to draft an indictment in human rights violations that occurred in Paniai, Papua.
“The public prosecutor will immediately draw up an indictment and hand over the case to the Human Rights Court at the Makassar District Court," AGO spokesperson Ketut Sumedana said in a statement as quoted by Kompas.
Last month, the AGO named an Indonesian Military (TNI) retiree -- identified only by the initials IS -- who was a liaison officer for the Paniai Military Command (Kodim), as a suspect in the Paniai case .
The incident, also referred to as Bloody Paniai, occurred when security forces opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators during a protest in Paniai regency on Dec. 8, 2014. Five people, including four high school students, were killed during the incident, and 21 other civilians were injured.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has said that the incident constituted a “gross human rights violation.”
In a preliminary investigation, the commission found that TNI soldiers had committed “gross human rights violations” by killing and persecuting civilians. The report was handed over to the AGO in February 2020.
In the same year AGO returned the report twice to Komnas HAM, on March 19 and May 20, for “not meeting the formal and material requirements", hindering the case handling.
