The trial will be held at Makassar Human Rights Court in South Sulawesi, which, according to the 2000 Human Rights Tribunals Law, has the jurisdiction to hear cases that occurred in Papua.

"It was initially scheduled for August. But because we received the presidential decree on the appointment of ad hoc judges just yesterday [Monday] from the State Secretariat, the trial has been pushed back to early September," Supreme Court spokesman Andi Samsan Nganro said on Tuesday.

Andi did not reveal the exact date of the trial.

The incident, also referred to as Bloody Paniai, occurred when security forces opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators during a protest in Paniai on Dec. 8, 2014. Five people, including four high school students, were killed during the incident, and 21 other civilians were injured.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which has the authority to conduct a preliminary investigation to determine whether or not a case constitutes a violation, concluded in early 2020 that Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers had committed “gross human rights violations” by killing and persecuting civilians.

But the case stalled after the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) sent back preliminary investigation dossiers submitted by Komnas HAM in 2020, reportedly citing administrative errors.

There will be one defendant standing trial in the case, according to the AGO. The man, identified only by the initials IS, is a retired Army major who was a liaison officer for the Paniai Military Command (Kodim) at the time of the incident.

The bench

In July, the Supreme Court selected eight ad hoc judges for the Paniai trial, fewer than the initial plan of 12.

Four of the eight judges selected will preside over the court of the first instance. They are former two-term Komnas HAM commissioner Siti Noor Laila, former ad hoc corruption judge Robert Pasaribu, lawyer Anselmus Aldrin Rangga Masiku and a commissioner at Malang General Elections Commission (KPU) Sofi Rahmadewi.

The four remaining judges will sit in the appellate court, namely former ad hoc corruption judges Florentia Switi Andari and Mochamad Mahin, lawyer Fenny Cahyani and law lecturer Hendrik of Papua Muhammadiyah University.

A coalition of civil groups has contended that the selection process of the judges was too rushed and subsequently produced only two judges "competent enough" to adjudicate a human rights case. The six other judges, activists said, lacked a basic knowledge of human rights cases and the military chain of command.

Trial 'should be in Papua'

The civil groups are also demanding the Paniai case be tried in Papua instead, to make it more accessible for local people and the families of victims so they can keep tabs on the court proceedings.

“Although time is short, civil society groups [in Jakarta and Papua] still hope that [the trial] will be held in Papua – at least in Jayapura," activist Tioria Pretty from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), a member of the coalition, said recently.

The activist groups also said that holding the trial in Papua would make it easier for prosecutors to present witnesses.

They also said that establishing a rights court in Papua – where rights violations have repeatedly occurred – would create infrastructure for any future trials. This is in line with a newer law on Papuan special autonomy, which mandates the creation of such a tribunal, as part of efforts to uphold human rights in the country's easternmost region.