TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Treason suspects accuse police of breaching procedure
Lawyers representing six Papuan activists who were named treason suspects filed a pretrial motion on Tuesday against the Jakarta Police at the South Jakarta District Court
Change Size
L
span>Lawyers representing six Papuan activists who were named treason suspects filed a pretrial motion on Tuesday against the Jakarta Police at the South Jakarta District Court. They alleged that the police had breached legal procedure in arresting and naming the suspects.
The six suspects are Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-West Papua) spokesperson Surya Anta and students Charles Kossay, Dano Tabuni, Isay Wenda, Ambrosius Mulait and Arina Elopere. They were arrested by the Jakarta Police on Aug. 30 and 31 and named treason suspects after they staged a protest in front of the State Palace in Jakarta on Aug. 28.
The Jakarta protest followed a string of protests nationwide condemning alleged racist attacks and excessive use of force by security personnel against Papuan students in Surabaya on Aug. 16 and 17.
The six activists, who have been detained at the police's Mobile Brigade headquarters (Mako Brimob) detention center in Depok, West Java, were suspected of violating articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code on treason and conspiracy to commit treason.
The group of lawyers, called the Papuan Advocacy Team, told reporters that the Jakarta Police had violated standard operating procedure as outlined by a National Police decree on criminal investigation as well as several articles in the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP).
"We suspected that the police lacked a district court permit to conduct searches and that the searches were also not conducted with two witnesses present from the community and neighborhood unit in the area," one of the lawyers, Oky Wiratama Siagian of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, said at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.
She went on to say that her clients had not received warrants prior to their arrests, which should have been the first thing the police did before carrying out the arrests. Oky added that the arrest warrants were shown only briefly to the activists and were given to their families about a week after the arrests.
"If the searches weren’t legal, then the confiscated items are invalid, resulting in wrongful arrests and suspect naming," Oky said.
Another lawyer, Michael Hilman, said that one of the arrested students, Arina, experienced police discrimination after she asked to change her clothes before going to the police headquarters.
"The investigator said, 'Hey, Papuans are used to not wearing clothes, just get in the car and explain later.' This was part of law enforcement’s systematic discrimination against Papuans. That's also what we'll try to verify in court," he said.
Michael rejected the police's statement that some of the students had carried the banned Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flags, symbols of the Papuan independence movement, during the Aug. 28 protest, suggesting that the activists had not instructed others to bring the flags nor had they voiced any desire for Papuan independence during the protest.
"Even if they did carry the flags, we should consider the Morning Star symbol part of Papuan culture. Don't politicize it by calling it treason or some attempt to overthrow the legitimate government," he said.
Government Regulation No. 77/2007 on regional symbols specifically prohibits raising the Morning Star flag because it is considered a separatist symbol.
According to Michael, at least four of the detained activists were sick. Surya was recovering from an earache, Ambrosius was suffering from toothache and a cyst had appeared on Doni's body, making it hard for him to sleep. Arina was suffering from hallucinations and other psychological issues.
"We've asked the investigators to provide medical specialists for the activists, but so far only Surya Anta has been treated," Michael said. He confirmed that there had not been any repressive measures taken by the police during the questioning.
Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said the police would follow standard legal procedure. He refused to answer The Jakarta Post's question about whether there had been procedural violations in the arrests.
"Let the judges assess it during the pretrial hearing. We'll follow the pretrial hearing to find out what the problems are," he said.
Asked about the illnesses suffered by some of the arrested activists, Argo said that the police had treated them well.
Earlier in September, family and friends became worried about the well-being of the detainees. They requested that the detainees be moved to the Jakarta Police headquarters detention center in South Jakarta so that it would be easier for them to visit.
Priest Suarbudaya Rahardian, religious guide and friend of Surya Anta, said that the detainees’ families and friends tried to visit them as often as possible during visiting hours on Tuesday and Friday.
“However, just before we were going to see them on Tuesday, the police questioned one of the visitors so intensely that we decided to cancel the visit. Today we tried again,” Suarbudaya told the Post during a visit to Mako Brimob on Sept. 20.
Suarbudaya said that whenever they wanted to visit the detainees in Mako Brimob, located 28 kilometers from Central Jakarta, the group would haveto write an official letter listing the names of the visitors to be approved by Mako Brimob authorities.
“It is too complicated and time consuming,” Suarbudaya said.
On Sept. 20, the group, which consists of 13 friends, family members and lawyers, managed to visit the detainees. Suarbudaya said the strictly guarded visit, which lasted less than two hours, was filled with prayer and conversation. The visitors also recorded Surya’s voice to give to his toddler son back home.
