Two Papuans sentenced to jail for state treason
Netty Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua
The Jayapura District Court sentenced on Thursday Edison Waromi and Herman Wanggai to two years in prison for treason.
The district court also sentenced Yordan Ick to 10 months in prison for having known of the planned treason but failing to report it to the authorities.
The three were the first Papuans to be jailed for treason.
The same district court last year acquitted three Papuan activists who were on trial for treason. They were Reverend Herman Awom, Don Al-Flassy and Thaha Al Hamid, all associated with the Papua Presidium.
The trial on Thursday, which lasted 90 minutes, was presided over by FX Soegiharto. The three defendants were accompanied by Paskalis Letsoin, director of the Jayapura Legal Aid Institute.
Soegiharto ruled that Edison, 39, and Herman, 29, were guilty of planning to separate Papua from Indonesia, in violation of articles 110 and 106 of the Criminal Code. The articles carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Yordan Ick was found guilty of violating Article 164 of the Criminal Code, for knowing of the treason but failing to report it to the authorities. The article carries a maximum sentence of 16 months in prison.
The judge said the Abepura Police arrested the three defendants as they were attempting to raise the West Melanesia "Bintang Kejora" flag on the campus of the University of Cenderawasih in the Papua capital of Jayapura on Dec. 14 last year.
West Melanesia was proclaimed as an independent country by Thom Wanggai on Dec. 14, 1988.
Judge Soegiharto said Edison and Herman were given stiffer sentences than Yordan because the two were heavily involved in efforts to separate Papua from Indonesia.
He said Edison and Herman attended a meeting in a house belonging to Edison on Dec. 11. This meeting concluded with a plan to fly the "Bintang Kejora" flag on Dec. 14 at the University of Cenderawasih.
The raising of the flag was to highlight the commemoration of the 14th anniversary of the declaration of West Melanesia, Soegiharto said.
Soegiharto said that by commemorating the declaration of West Melanesia, the defendants had expressed their desire to create an independent Papua separate from Indonesia.
The judge honored the prosecutor's demand that Edison and Herman be sentenced to two years in prison each. The prosecutor had been seeking a 14-month prison term for Yordan, but the judge sentenced the defendant to 10 months.
Edison and Herman said they were considering whether to appeal the verdict. Yordan said he would not appeal.