PDP leaders move to Abepura penitentiary

PDP leaders move to Abepura penitentiary

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): After about one month under Irian
Jaya police custody, five proindependence leaders of the Papuan
Presidium Council (PDP) were moved from the Jayapura Police cell
to the Abepura penitentiary on Friday.

They were transported in a car heavily guarded by police
officers to the penitentiary, some 15 kilometers from Jayapura
Police Headquarters.

According to Syamsul Alam, the acting head of the Jayapura
Prosecutors' Office, Theys Hiyo Eluay, Thaha Al Hamid, Rev.
Herman Awom, Don Flassy and Jhon Mambor are now under the charge
of the Prosecutors' Office, meaning that the legal process was
developing.

Theys, PDP chief, was arrested in November for allegedly
provoking people in the province to rally to commemorate Papuan
independence.

Thaha Al Hamid, PDP secretary-general who is also a Muslim
leader, was arrested on similar charges in November.

Rev. Herman Awom, Don Flassy and John Mambor, all members of
PDP, were arrested later in December.

They were charged with violating Articles 106 and 110 of the
Criminal Code, which carry a maximum sentence of life
imprisonment and a minimum sentence of five years in jail.

The suspects' lawyers Anton Reharoson and Latifa Siregar said
that they wanted to ask the Prosecutors' Office to put their
clients under city arrest. "They will not escape, or destroy
evidence," Anton assured.

Demands for independence have been mounting in the easternmost
province of Irian Jaya, and many have died in the struggle.

President Abdurrahman Wahid said when visiting Jayapura on
Christmas Eve that Irian Jaya would remain a part of the unitary
state of the Republic of Indonesia. (35/sur)