Jakarta – An Indonesian court in the easternmost province of Papua on Monday acquitted three pro-independence leaders of subversion.

"Praise the Lord, justice prevailed," said Reverend Herman Awom, who was cleared along with fellow Papua Presidium members Don Flassy and Thaha Al Hamid.

About a hundred supporters greeted the three outside court in the provincial capital Jayapura after the acquittal, the state Antara news agency said. It said Flassy had waved a small "morning star" independence flag inside the court just before the verdict.

The three were charged over the holding of a Papua People's Congress in May-June 2000, which ended with a statement affirming Papua's independence. But Awom said the judges ruled that the meeting had been organised with the full knowledge and support of the local and central governments.

"The president himself gave us one billion rupiah (now 99,010 dollars) to help finance the congress and all government, military and police leaders in the province had publicly stated their support for the congress," he told AFP. He was refering to the then president Abdurrahman Wahid, a staunch pro-democracy figure who championed the freedom of expression.

Another defendent in the subversion case, John Mambor, is currently ill in hospital. A fifth, Papua Presidum chairman Theys Hiyo Eluay, was murdered near Jayapura last November. Many people in the province, including its police chief, its governor and rights activists, have said there are indications that Kopassus special forces members had a role in the murder.

A military investigation team has been digging up areas around the Kopassus headquarters following speculation that a missing key witness, Eluay's driver, may have been murdered and buried there. The driver, Aristoteles Masoka, was driving Eluay home from a ceremony at the Kopassus base when their car was halted by a group of men on November 10. Eluay was found dead in his car the following day.

The Papua Presidium has been campaigning for independence through peaceful means. A separate sporadic and low-level armed struggle for independence began after the Dutch ceded control of the territory to Indonesia in 1963.

The province was renamed Papua in December under an autonomy law designed to lessen pressure for independence. The province also receives a much greater share of revenues from its rich natural resources.