A man of 23 years died after being struck several times by a soldier attached to the district command Korem 172/PWY. The soldier has been identified only by his initials Sergeant YK.

The incident leading to the death of Rudi Pagawak, who worked for Sinar Mas Plantation occurred outside the TNI Post in Lereh, Jayapura on Thursday.

After being struck by the soldier, Pagawak was taken to a nearby clinic where the medical staff tried for three hours to save him but be died later that day.

The incident that led to this death started when Pagawak went to a local call box to make a phone-call to his family but the phone was not working, so he went to look for another phone box somewhere near the Sinar Mas plantation.

However, as he passed by a TNI post, he failed to acknowledge the commander of the post. When the soldier called him back, he slapped him several times in the face. This infuriated the victim so he fought back. The soldier then took the man to a water tub near the military post and pushed Pagawak into the water and left him there. After being pulled out of the water, the victim fainted. When he reached a nearby clinic, he was still breathing, but he died three hours later.

This account given by a witness was confirmed by members of the dead man's family.

A friend who was with the victim at the time said that the soldier struck him hard on his right ear before pushing him into the water. Friends and relatives who were angry with what happened took the dead body to the military post and demanded that someone take responsibility for the death. The body was later taken to the hospital for an autopsy.

One relative said that as the head of the Dani tribe in Lereh, he would demand that the case be handled in accordance with the law. "The man responsible should be discharged from the army," he said. He added that there have been many incidents of violence against people. He also called for the immediate withdrawal of the troops from Lereh, saying that their presence there was causing the local people a great deal of anguish.

The commander of 172/PWY, Burhanuddin Siagian later confirmed that such an incident had occurred and said that the man responsible was now in custody and if found guilty he would be punished. He said that the soldier in question had clearly acted in excess. He also commended the local people for dealing with the incident in a calm and responsible manner. - Izak/mnur/Cenderawasih Pos

[Abridged translation from TAPOL. The report in Cenderawasih Pos is accompanied by a photo of the dead man surrounded by friends.]