Bring Posters And Spanduks, Papuan Indigenous People Again AGO

Indigenous Papuans demo in front of the AGO's office/ Photo: IST

JAKARTA - Hundreds of Papuans, including students, returned to the office of the Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO), Wednesday, October 2. They demanded that the AGO process the law on cases of alleged corruption in planes and helicopters in Mimika Regency in 2015.

Benny, a representative of the Papuan Student Network and the Papuan Anti-Corruption Society throughout Jabodetabek, said this case dragged the former Head of the Mimika Regency Transportation Service Johannes Rettob, who is now the Acting Regent of Mimika.

"We have clear and valid evidence. But so far both the Kejari (District Attorney General's Office) and the Attorney General's Office (High Prosecutor's Office) of Papua have not provided a response. This is our action volume 2 (in the AGO). In the future, if our demands are not followed, we will drop again which is bigger," said Benny in his statement, Wednesday, October 2.

Meanwhile, Michael Himan as the attorney for the Papuan Student Network and the Papuan Anti-Corruption Society throughout Jabodetabek said that his party felt it was odd to handle cases that were estimated to cost the country tens of billions. Because, said Michael, in another case involving indigenous Papuans (OAP), the law enforcement process was so fast. They considered this condition unfair, and had the potential to cause conflict in Papua.

"In this case, from 2015 to 2022, we have not been named as suspects. So we indigenous Papuans are very angry with the selective logging of resolving cases at the AGO (the Attorney General's Office)," said Michael.

"We see that other legal cases in Papua, such as Lukas Enembe, are being followed up quickly. So if the law is played like this, it is better for Papuans to be independent," he added.

Michael also revealed an alleged attempt to eliminate evidence in the case. The trick, he said, was to remove three echelon II officials who had been witnesses in the case.

"To eliminate evidence, Acting Regent Mimika Johannes Rettob is suspected of unilaterally firing three echelons II. This means that he allegedly lost evidence in this case. We also asked the AGO to determine the suspect to Johannes Rettob," said Michael.

Perwakilan masyarakat Papua sempat diterima oleh pihak Kejaksaan dalam kesempatan itu. Kabid hubungan Antar Lembaga (Hubaga) Kejagung RI Stanley Bukara dan tim yang menerima perwakilan mengungkapkan, Kejagung dan Kejaksaan Tinggi Papua tengah memonitor kasus tersebut. Ia meminta masyarakat Papua mempercayatkan penanganan kasus tersebut kepada Kejaksaan.

"I just received information last week. We have coordinated with the special team (Special Crimes). So just be patient. There is also monitoring. Hopefully in the near future this case can be improved. Just trust the AGO," he said.