Defendant admits his man choked Theys

Defendant admits his man choked Theys

SURABAYA: Lt. Col. Hartomo, a suspect in the 2001 murder of Papuan separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay, admitted on Wednesday that one of his subordinates, Pvt. Ahmad Zulfahmi, asphyxiated the victim after failing to convince him to drop plans to seek independence for his homeland.

Theys was found dead in the outskirts of the Papua capital of Jayapura on Nov. 11, 2001. Earlier that night, he had attended a dinner hosted by the local unit of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus).

Military prosecutors in the nation's second biggest city of Surabaya have charged seven Kopassus soldiers in connection with the death.

Hartomo, one of the seven, told a military tribunal in Surabaya that he had nothing to do with the killing and only learned about it a day later.

"I called Pvt. Zulfahmi and asked him what happened," said Hartomo. "He told me that he had choked him (Theys)."

Last week, a second defendant, Lt. Agus Supriyanto, said his superiors had ordered him and Zulfahmi to pressure to stop Theys from promoting independence. --AP