Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – A military tribunal in Papua indicted three low-ranking soldiers on Wednesday for the killing of a civilian in Puncak Jaya district last year.
The defendants were identified as First Sgt. Saut Sihombing, Second Pvt. Hery Purwanto and Second Pvt. Hasirun. All three serve in the Army's Nabire Infantry Battalion, as did four soldiers sentenced in November for torturing two civilians in the village of Gurage in the same district.
That incident resulted in international condemnation after a video of the torture was posted on the online video-sharing site YouTube in October.
Military prosecutor Capt. Jem C.H. Manibuy charged the three defendants in this latest case with torture. They are accused of beating and shooting to death a civilian, identified as Kinderman Gire. The killing occurred near a military checkpoint in the village of Illu on March 17 last year, just two weeks prior to the Gurage incident.
The indictment says Saut, Hery and Hasirun accompanied a civilian convoy that was delivering food supplies to Mulia, the capital of Puncak Jaya district, around 10 hours by road from Wamena, Jayawijaya.
Kinderman, according to the indictment, stopped the convoy near Kalome village in an attempt to extort gasoline from the driver of one of the vehicles.
Saut disembarked from his vehicle and approached Kinderman who was with another civilian, Pitinus Kogoya. The indictment says that Kinderman then said, "I am not afraid of the military. I have 30 friends in the mountains and they are armed," suggesting that Kinderman was a member of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).
Kinderman and Pitinus were then beaten while being interrogated by Hery and Hasirun, the indictment says. Pitinus was able to escape by jumping down an embankment.
The military tribunal was told that Kinderman tried to grab a rifle from Hery, who reacted by firing at Kinderman. The shot hit Kinderman in the chest, killing him instantly.
Saut said he reported the incident to his superior, Sudarmin, who told the three not to say anything about the shooting. The three soldiers took Kinderman's body to their vehicle before dumping it in a river from a bridge in Tingginambut subdistrict, the indictment says.
The Papua Customary Council (DAP), however, disagreed with the Army's version of events. It said Kinderman was a local priest and had no ties to the OPM.
"He was waiting for a delivery from Wamena, so when a convoy approached he immediately went up to check for his package," DAP member Markus Haluk said. "There are thousands of innocent civilians in Papua accused of being OPM to justify military tortures and killings. This trial is just for show, like the previous one."