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| Foto Romario Jatipai Aktivis KNPB Timika |
At the end of September 2012, nine KNPB members were arrested around Wamena, accused of possessing material
for making bombs. On 19 October the web of investigation spread to
Timika, with raids taking place throughout the night on the KNPB
secretariat and members’ homes. Around twelve people were arrested in
all. Six of the men were released on 24 October, and the remaining six
men were held and charged with possession of explosives: Steven Itlay,
Romario Yatipai, Paulus Marsyom, Yantho Awerkion, Jack Wansior and
Alfret Marsyom.
According to the KNPB the first arrests took place at 01:00 at Alfret
Marsyom‘s house where he was arrested along with Paulus Marsyom, Yantho
Awerkion and Jack Wansior. Alfret Marsyom was then forced to point out
to the police the location of Steven Itlay and Romario Yatipai‘s houses.
The arrested were brought to Police Headquarters at Mile 32 Timika,
where they later reported that the police tried to force them to admit
to owning and making indigenous Biak arrows, and in the case of Yantho
Awerkion, a bomb used for fishing. Romario Yatipai was forced to confess
that he had asked Alfret Marsyom to make the arrows as instructed by
Steven Itlay.
As day broke, a crowd of KNPB sympathisers gathered and travelled to the
Mimika Police Headquarters at Mile 32, where they were told that the
arrests were made because KNPB had been fabricating bombs, and also
because there were activities planned between 19 and 23 October.
The police’s version of events was reported in the Bintang Papua
newspaper. In a press release the police claimed that they had found
bomb-making material in two locations: Steven Itlay‘s house and Romario
Yatipai‘s house. Among the materials they supposedly found were iron and
aluminium pipes, a red powder which was being examined in a forensic
lab, and 1.6kg of high explosives.
A few days after the arrest at midnight on 22 October, Jack Wansior was
reportedly tortured. He states that he was hit by several masked police
officers whilst being interrogated. He was then blindfolded, and with
his hands cuffed behind his back, he was forced to get inside a box,
where police continued to beat and interrogate him, demanding where they
could find the bombs and weapons. He was also allegedly hit on the head
with the back of a pistol and threatened that he would be killed.
All six men were charged with Article 106 of the Criminal Code for
treason and Article 1 paragraph (1) of the 1951 Emergency Law 12 for
possession of explosives.
On 14 February the Defence Counsel stated in their demurrer that
Awerkion was charged with two primary charges, going against the rules
set forth in the Indonesian Criminal Code. The police also used violence
during the arrest and denied Awerkion legal counsel when he was
detained. The Defence also argued that the Prosecutor’s indictment of
the offences charged to the Defendant was inaccurate, unclear and
incomplete. On 7 March two Mimika police officers and another officer
from the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta were called to testify
as witnesses. One of the defence lawyers, Gustaf Kawer, stated that the
explanation given by the two witnesses had no correlation with the
indictments. Kawer told journalists that it was not possible to
associate the possession of sharp weapons with the peaceful
demonstration the KNPB had organised on 23 October 2012, arguing that
there was no proof that demonstrators carried weapons. He also argued
that these objects were widely available in markets and so possession
cannot necessarily be considered a crime.
Sumber :www.umaginews.com
