Five jailed for West Papua 'treason'
17 Mar, 2012 03:00 AM
FIVE activists fighting for an independent West Papua will appeal their conviction and imprisonment on treason charges.
The men, including Forkorus Yaboisembut, who was declared "president of the Federal Republic of West Papua" by the district's 200-plus tribes in October, were jailed yesterday for three years by Jayapura district court judge Jack Johanis Oktavianus.
Chief prosecutor Julius Teuf had called for sentences of five years for the men, who were caught in a bloody crackdown after a congress of tribes had unilaterally declared independence from Indonesia. As well as Forkorus, the five jailed men included "prime minister" Edison Waromi, Agustinus Sanany Kraar, Selpius Bobii and Dominikus Sorabut.
Their lawyer, Gustav Kawer, told The Saturday Age yesterday the panel of judges ignored crucial evidence that the congress was held in the open and with the knowledge of security forces.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's spokesman told the Jakarta Globe that freedom of speech did not apply to separatist activities, citing member states of the European Union who classify separatism as a form of terrorism.
The independence declaration came at the end of only the third such meeting of indigenous Papuans since 1961, when the western half of the island of New Guinea was still under Dutch control. After the meeting, police stepped in. Six people were killed and five arrested.
Muridan Widjojo, author of Papua Road Map, said: "What Forkorus and his friends did cannot be categorised as treason. There is no armed movement, there is no alternative government.''
Greeting Peace!!!
To: Santon Tekege
(Dioses of Timika-PAPUA
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