Senior officers tried over Abepura abuses
Andi Hajramurni, Makassar
An ad hoc court here on Friday began separate trials for two senior police officers charged for their roles in gross human rights abuses three years ago in Abepura, Papua.
The defendants -- the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) paramilitary police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Johny Wainal Usman and Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Daud Sihombing -- attended the trials.
They could face jail terms from 25 years to life for the charges.
Prosecutors told the Makassar court in South Sulawesi that Johny, 49, and Sihombing, 45, were guilty of violating Article 39 and 42 of Law No. 26/2000 on human rights violations.
The two had not prevented or acted to stop their subordinates' actions, which breached human rights, they said.
Neither did they hand over their subordinates to authorities for investigation and prosecution.
"The defendants had authority and effective control of their subordinates and knew they had committed serious human rights violations," prosecutor Rauf Kinu said.
The abuses took place on Dec. 7, 2000 in Abepura, about 20 kilometers south of the Papua capital, Jayapura, when 30 residents armed with sharp weapons attacked and set fire to a local Abepura Police precinct at about 1:30 a.m.
Sgt. Petrus Eppa was killed and three other policemen were wounded in the melee. In a separate attack on the Irian Jaya Autonomy office in Abepura a security officer, Markus Padama, was killed.
About an hour later at 2:30 a.m., the Abepura Police assisted by the Jayapura Brimob began a hunt for the perpetrators by scouring nearby residential areas and in hostels, including a student residence.
During the searches, police arrested, assaulted and tortured at least 99 residents, suspected of having been involved in the attack. Three people were killed. Elkuis Suhunaib, 18, died in the searches, while two others, Johny Karunggu, 18, and Orry Doronggi, 17, died after having been tortured.
At the time of the incident, Johny served as the Jayapura Brimob unit commander and Sihombing as the local police chief.
Thursday's trials were held separately with the same panel of judges led by chief Judge Jalaluddin but with different prosecutors for each case.
The defendants were accompanied by two defense teams of 18 lawyers, including Denny Kailimang and others from the National Police headquarters led by Sr. Comr. Suyitno.
Jalaluddin adjourned the trials until May 17, 2004 to hear defense pleas from the defendants and their lawyers.
Kailimang, coordinator of the two legal teams, could not say what each man would plead, as their lawyers were still studying the charges.
The two-hour trials proceeded under tight security with a guard of about 100 Brimob members and antiriot officers brandishing guns around the court compound.
Outside, dozens of students staged protests, demanding the judges hand down severe sentences to the two defendants. The protesters questioned why only two police officers were standing trial.
Each visitor was examined with a metal detector before entering the courtroom.