The assault took place when Sulvianto, who is also a coordinator of Panah Papua legal aid institute (LSM), was leaving a cafe in the regency at midnight.

“Some people shouted at me in the parking lot. They later chased and beat me when I tried to flee to the café's backyard,” the activist said on Friday, as quoted by kompas.com. 

One of the assailants, who claimed to be a police officer, forced him to get onto an off-road motorcycle to take him to a police station. But they diverted to a forest near Tanah Merah village, where the gang continued to interrogate and beat him.

During the assault, Sulvianto claimed that the attackers ordered him to unlock his phone. One of his friends, identified as Roy, called him.

“The assailants ordered me to answer the call and tell Roy that I was at home. But I told my friend that I was in Tanah Merah while moaning in pain,” Sulvianto said.

The perpetrators then moved him to another location, where they continued the assault, including using a rock and wooden stick. 

The activist claimed that the assailants questioned whether he supported a certain political candidate in the regency. He denied having ties with any political figures, but the assailants kept beating him until they left him alone at 2 a.m. on Saturday.

Sulvianto managed to walk to the main road and stopped a motorcyclist passing by to ask for help. He was taken to a hospital and later filed a report with the Teluk Bintuni Police.

Sulvianto and his group Panah Papua recently worked on a campaign against an oil palm company, as well as a national strategic project (PSN) producing fertilizer in West Papua.

Environmental group the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) condemned the incident, describing it as an example of the poor protection provided by the state for anyone voicing criticism against violent acts, which have been used to silence people fighting for justice.

Sulvianto’s case is one more in the long list of abuse faced by environmental and human rights defenders, according to WALHI, with at least 1,131 individuals across the country assaulted or criminalized in the past 10 years.

Only half of the cases were brought to court, with their trials ending in imprisonment. Some activists have even been murdered, such as Golfrid Siregar, an environmental lawyer who was found dead in North Sumatra in 2019.

“These incidents show that the fight for our right to a healthy environment comes with a hefty price,” WALHI wrote in a statement on Saturday.

“We believe that a healthy environment is the right of every citizen. Therefore, every attempt to silence environmental defenders is a serious attack that cannot be left unpunished,” the group added, calling for the police to arrest all perpetrators and thoroughly investigate the case.

A similar call for the police to solve the case was also raised by a group of 86 activists in a statement issued on Saturday. They also called for state officials and law enforcement institutions to protect environmental and human rights defenders and prevent similar violent acts from happening in the future, they said as reported by tribunnews.com.

Teluk Bintuni Police have arrested five suspects in the case, as reported by local media. One suspect, identified only as LA, is a son of a candidate for Teluk Bintuni regent in November’s election, although the identity of the candidate has not been revealed. Another suspect, identified only as DAS, is a police officer.

The suspects surrendered themselves on Friday evening, as reported by inews.id. Investigators said they would investigate the motive behind the assault.

The assault took place a week after the government announced a plan to grant amnesty for around 44,000 convicts, including people jailed in provinces in Papua for criticizing the government. (kuk)