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.