Cop cleared of rights abuse charges

Cop cleared of rights abuse charges

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

The Human rights court in Makassar has acquitted one of two senior
police officers accused of committing gross human rights
violations in Abepura, Papua, of all charges on Thursday.

In the verdict the court, presided over by judge Jalaluddin,
found commander of National Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit
Brig. Gen. Johny Wainal Usman not guilty of human rights abuses
in an incident five years ago in Abepura, some 20 kilometers
south of Papua's capital of Jayapura.

The court is scheduled to hear the verdict of another senior
officer charged in the case, Sr. Comr. Daud Sihombing, on Friday.

He said the panel of five judges found that Johny, who was
commander of Papua Police's Brimob unit at the time of the
incident, had acted in accordance with the law.

"We found that the defendant's actions at that time was his
response as a superior. His action was in accordance with
standard operational procedures thus we have decided to set him
free of all charges," Jalaluddin said.

The court also turned down a request from the victims'
families that the government compensate them for their losses in
the incident.

The incident took place in 2000 in Abepura, after 30 residents
armed with sharp weapons attacked and set fire to the Abepura
police station. A policeman was killed and three others were
wounded in the attack. In a separate attack on the Irian Jaya
autonomy office in Abepura, a security officer was killed.

In a retaliatory attack, Abepura Police, assisted by the
Jayapura Brimob unit, began a hunt for the perpetrators. During
the searches, police arrested, assaulted and tortured at least 99
people, whom they claimed were suspects in the police station
attack. Three people were reportedly killed in the raids.

Mailan Syarif, the acting head of the Abepura ad hoc
prosecution team, immediately said on Thursday he would appeal
the decision to the Supreme Court.

The prosecutors' indictment stated that both accused had
violated Law No. 26/2000 on human rights violations, in
particular Section 42 Article 2 with the two not acting to
prevent or stop their subordinate's actions that violated human
rights. They also refused to hand over their subordinates to
authorized officers for investigation and prosecution.

In June, prosecutors demanded that the court sentence Johny to 10
years jail as he had been proven responsible for the gross human
rights abuses.

"We'll appeal to the Supreme Court because the court's verdict
goes completely against our demands. Currently, we're waiting for
a copy of the verdict from the court to prepare the appeal case,"
Mailan said.

Thursday's verdict was greeted with hysterical screams from
several Papuans attending the proceedings. A Papuan woman dressed
in traditional costume climbed onto a chair and yelled that the
judges had been unfair. Others broke into tears after learning of
the verdict that they said hurt the feelings of the Papuan
people.

In contrast to the Papuans, some 70 Brimob members from South
Sulawesi, who had been following the proceedings, exploded into
celebration. With the court proceedings over, they escorted Johny
from the courtroom while belting out Brimob's marching song.