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.