Jayapura – The Irian Jaya Provincial Police on Saturday handed over 19 pieces of evidence concerning the murder of pro-independence Papuan leader Dortheys Hiyo Eluway to the Military Police.

Three army officers have been detained as suspects in connection with the killing.

Receiving the evidence from the deputy chief of the provincial police, Brig. Gen. Raziman Tarigan, was Col. Sutarna, chief of the province's Trikora Military Command's Military Police detachment. The police handed over the evidence at the request of the Jakarta-based Military Police Corps, which is still questioning the three suspects.

The evidence was collected by the police at various places where Theys went to before his murder and included two Kijang minivans, a belt, a pair of socks, the jeans which Theys wore when he attended the celebration of National Heroes' Day at the Kopassus (Army Special Forces) barracks in the town on Nov. 10, 2001, a day before he was found dead in Koya Tengah Village on the Papua New Guinea border.

The evidence also included the findings of the autopsy on Theys, and the results of the police's questioning of a number of military and civilian witnesses.

Raziman hailed the significant progress made in the ongoing investigation of the case, saying that with the evidence the Military Police Corps would be able to pursue its investigation so as to reveal all those involved, besides the three suspects named so far.

"We hope the Military Police will be able to carry out the investigation thoroughly and bring before a military tribunal all those who were involved in the murder," he said.