Theys' murder puts Megawati's image at stake
Theys' murder puts Megawati's image at stake
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government must
satisfactorily unravel the mystery shrouding the death of Papuan
pro-independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay, or it risks losing the
local people's trust, political observers said on Friday.
Denny J.A. and Maswadi Rauf said the police's explanation
about the cause of the influential Papuan leader's death had so
far only raised more questions than offered logical answers.
"Whatever the motive could be, the incident definitely affects
the government's image. Both separatist groups and Megawati's
political foes are exploiting the issue," said Denny from the
Jakarta-based Jayabaya University.
Theys, the 63-year-old leader of the Papuan Presidium Council
(PDP), was found dead in his car on Sunday at Muara Tami, a
district west of the provincial capital Jayapura.
The cause of his death still remains a mystery though after a
team of doctors who examined Theys' body concluded that he
chocked to death and that there were no signs of strangulation or
violence that could have caused his death.
His driver, Ari Masoka, who had telephoned Theys' wife on
Saturday telling her that her husband had been kidnapped by
unidentified men, is still missing.
Pro-independence activists have said Theys could have been
killed by security troops and denied his death was linked to
ethnic conflicts between Papuan separatist groups. The Indonesian
Military (TNI) has dismissed the alleged involvement of its
troops in the murder.
Maswadi, a political analyst from Jakarta's University of
Indonesia, concurred with Denny, saying Theys' murder could
tarnish the image of Megawati's government and hamper its efforts
to stem the separatist movement in the country's easternmost
province.
"To certain groups of people, Theys' murder could be seen as
Megawati's failure to solve the problems in the region, although
the masterminds of the incident are still unknown," he told the
Post.
Maswadi said a comprehensive investigation is, therefore,
badly needed to counter widespread public speculation over the
mystery.
Denny said the probe should be conducted independently,
involving several credible Papuan leaders as team members to
allay any possible resistance from locals regarding its results.
"The involvement of credible Papuan figures will eliminate any
public distrust of the team. Local people will not be able to say
the team was only created by Jakarta to satisfy them, not to
discover what really happened."
But Maswadi said such an independent team was not needed as
long as the police investigation was conducted transparently by
allowing Papuans to closely monitor the process.
He also urged the security authorities to strive harder to
find Theys' missing driver to help solve the mystery.