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Paniai trial set to start early this month in Makassar
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Human rights (Shutterstock/garagestoc)
A
trial relating to a 2014 human rights violation that occurred in Paniai regency in Papua has been pushed back from August to sometime in the next few weeks, following a delay in the inauguration of ad hoc judges who will preside over the case.
The trial will be held at Makassar Human Rights Court in South Sulawesi, which, according to the 2000 Human Rights Tribunals Law, has the jurisdiction to hear cases that occurred in Papua.
"It was initially scheduled for August. But because we received the presidential decree on the appointment of ad hoc judges just yesterday [Monday] from the State Secretariat, the trial has been pushed back to early September," Supreme Court spokesman Andi Samsan Nganro said on Tuesday.
Andi did not reveal the exact date of the trial.
The incident, also referred to as Bloody Paniai, occurred when security forces opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators during a protest in Paniai 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), which has the authority to conduct a preliminary investigation to determine whether or not a case constitutes a violation, concluded in early 2020 that Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers had committed “gross human rights violations” by killing and persecuting civilians.
But the case stalled after the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) sent back preliminary investigation dossiers submitted by Komnas HAM in 2020, reportedly citing administrative errors.
