Jakarta – Prosecutors at a court in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, on Monday sought 30-month jail sentences for each of three pro-independence leaders accused of subversion, one of the defendants said.

Prosecutors at two separate trials at the Abepura district court in Jayapura sought the penalties for three leaders of the Papua Presidium – Reverend Herman Awom, Thaha al-Hamid and Don Flassy, Awom told AFP.

"The prosecutor asked two-and-a-half years' jail for me and Thaha and the same sentence too for Don Flassy who is tried separately," Awom said, adding that the time they had spent in detention would be deducted from the sentence if applied.

The three defendants have been accused of subversion for advocating an independent state in Papua. Al-Hamid is the general secretary of the presidium while Flassy and Awom are members.

Awom said that the trial would resume on February 4 to hear the defence plea. The three are on trial following a congress organized by the presidium, which demanded that Jakarta recognize the sovereignty of West Papua that was declared in 1961.

Irian Jaya fell under Indonesian control in 1963 after the territory's Dutch colonisers departed in 1961. The United Nations recognized Indonesia's sovereignty over Irian Jaya in 1969 following a UN-held plebiscite but pro-independence groups, including the presidium, say it was flawed.

The head of the presidium, Theys Hiyo Eluay, was also accused of the same charges but was found murdered on November 11, after he had been kidnapped the previous day. Police investigations into the case have yet to produce results.