Jayapura – Rights activists in Papua are angered over the punishment administered by the Papua Police office for five policemen allegedly involved in the shooting of a teenager in Intan Jaya regency, saying it was too light a punishment.
"This is unfair. The police killed someone, and the punishment is just a short sentence," National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Papua representative Friets Ramandey said on Friday.
He said the light punishment increased public distrust in government officials and security personnel.
He was responding to the Papua Police office that put five policemen in detention for 21 days after shooting Otianus Sondegau, 15, in Sugapa, Intan Jaya regency, on Aug. 27. Three of the suspects were stripped of their official positions.
Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Rudolf Patrick Renwarin said the policemen fired gunshots as defense because local people had aimed arrows at them. "That was an act of defense. However, the policemen are still guilty of killing someone," he said.