T

en guards from a detention center in West Kalimantan have been named suspects over allegations of fatal physical abuse against an Afghan asylum seeker.

“We initially had four [suspects], but now 10 people have been arrested and they are currently being detained at the Pontianak Police station for questioning,” Police chief Muharrom Riyadi said after inspecting the detention facility at Sungai Raya district in Kubu Raya regency.

The suspects, who have been identified by their initials as WID, AN, TAU, SAM, RE, AF, AP, MA, SU and DS, are all alleged to have beaten to death Afghan national Tagi Nekoyee, 28, based on testimony by the latter’s fellow asylum seekers.

Nekoyee was among six Afghans who reportedly wanted to seek asylum in Australia.

“Apart from the testimonies from the other asylum seekers, we have also questioned officials at the detention center. The two groups appear to have their own version of events,” Muharrom said.

Nekoyee and his fellow Afghans — Ali Abbas, 28; Abdul Qadir Fahimi, 30; Hafizullah Haidari, 29; Abdullah Noori, 31; and Muhammad Takhi, 29 — were reported to have escaped from the detention center on Saturday, Feb. 25 by breaking through the iron railings and the facility’s ceilings.

Nekoyee, Abbas and Abdul Qadir Fahimi were recaptured the following Monday, but on Tuesday, Nekoyee was found dead inside the center.

Juliasman Purba, a local official with the Law and Human Rights Ministry, said the inmates had requested a meeting with representatives from the International Organization of Migration (IOM) from Jakarta but “we could not fulfill their request because their cases were undergoing processing”.

He said his office was still looking to bring IOM representatives to the detention facility when the incident took place.

“They were psychologically volatile. They had been in detention for around six months with the status of asylum seekers,” he said.

He said depression and frustration from staying such a long time in detention may have caused one of them to deliberately injure himself by hitting his head against a wall, although he later complained that his injuries had been sustained due to an attack by guards.

“We never resort to beating inmates in the detention center,” he said.