Benny said that on Monday, as many as 20 men came to his house in the Perumnas housing complex in Padang Bulan, Jayapura and demanded he hand over a person identified as Lucky Siep at about 6:40 a.m local time. The Brimob members reportedly proceeded to trespass on Benny’s property and entered his house without a search warrant. 

Benny, who also reports for the Jayapura-based Jubi newspaper, said the men who came to his house were equipped with rifles. One of the Brimob members asked Benny a question about Lucky Siep’s whereabouts, to which Benny responded by saying he did not know.

However, the security personnel kept demanding an answer from him. Benny asked them to show him their search warrant and threatened to call the Papua Police chief Rudolf A. Rodja when they refused to comply. The Brimob members, however, threatened to take Benny’s phone away if he insisted on making the call. 

“They told me that the police are stupid if they show the warrant letter before the arrest since it can jeopardize the operation,” Benny said in a written statement received by the Post on Tuesday. He added that the men continued to search his house and gave him a message for Lucky: to tell him to surrender as soon as possible.

“My family and neighbors are traumatized by this,” Benny said, explaining that at that time his young children and other family members were present in the house. 

The police could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.

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