coalition of human rights activists condemned on Monday incidents of intimidation against the family of human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and urged a thorough police investigation after an explosive package was sent to her parents' home.
Veronica has long been vocal in speaking up against alleged human rights abuses targeting Papuans. She was named a suspect following the 2019 Papuan protests and she has received multiple online threats based on her gender and ethnicity. She is currently in self-exile in Australia.
Unidentified people on a motorbike reportedly threw a package at Veronica's parents' house in West Jakarta on Sunday afternoon, according to Amnesty International Indonesia director Usman Hamid who is part of the coalition. The package landed under the family's car and exploded.
Almost at the same time, Veronica's relatives, living in a different house in West Jakarta, reportedly received a package containing a dead chicken along with a threatening note, which said anyone hiding her would end up that way.
Veronica’s family, accompanied by lawyers from the coalition of rights groups, immediately reported the incidents to the Jakarta Police.
So far, the police have collected evidence from the crime scenes and questioned five people as witnesses. The motives behind the attacks, however, remain unclear.
"We strongly believe, so far, that [the explosion was caused by] firecrackers [in the package thrown at the parents’ house]," head of the criminal investigation unit of the West Jakarta Police, Comr. Joko Dwi Harsono said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.
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