Jakarta – The handover of the investigation dossiers and the six suspects charged with raising the Morning Star independence flag to the Central Jakarta State Prosecutor's Office (Kejari Jakpus) is seen as an attempt by police to avoid the pre-trail suit challenging their arrest.
"We think there are efforts to avoid the pre-trial process", Civil Society Coalition for Democracy spokesperson Pastor Suarbudaya Rahadian told CNN Indonesia by telephone on Monday November 18.
Rahadian also believes that the police's actions disrespect the pre-trial process which is currently underway.
"The police must still be held accountable for the arrests which we allege to be illegal. Meaning by immediately handing over the investigation dossiers to the prosecutor's office, it means that the police are side stepping the pre-trail suit. The pre-trail suit must be finished first", he said.
These suspicions were reinforced by the police's absense at the first pre-trial hearing of the Papuan activists on Monday November 11. Rahadian said that the police's failure to appear was an effort to play for time.
"Because of this, we want the pre-trail process to be accelerated. The other day the police failed to appear, and the court gave them a long time, a two week [postponement]. This was the week that the police hurried to hand over the dossiers", he added.
At the first pre-trial hearing last week, the lawyer acting for Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) spokesperson Surya Anta and the five Papuan students requested on several occasions that the police be summoned sooner. The sole judge in the case however responded by insisting that the summons for the next hearing would be in two weeks.
"This is to allow for an appropriate time", said Judge Agus Widodo during the first pre-trial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday November 11.
Earlier, the head of the Metro Jaya regional police (Polda Metro Jaya) General Crimes Detectives Directorate State Security Sub-Directorate chief Police Commander Dwiasi Wiyatputera said that the six suspects were in good health when they were handed over to the Central Jakarta State Prosecutors' Office.
During the hand over, said Wiyatputera, the police escorted the suspects from the Mobile Brigade Command Headquarters detention center (Rutan Mako Brimob) in Depok, to the Central Jakarta State Prosecutor's Office.
"The prisoner escort team has already departed from Polda Metro Jaya for the (Rutan) Mako Brimob, then they will go together to the Kejari Jakpus to hand over the prisoners", said Wiyatputera.
The six suspects are Paulus Suryanta Ginting alias Surya Anta, Isay Wenda, Charles Kosay, Ambrosius Mulait, Anes Danoo Tabuni and Arina Elopere.
The Metro Jaya regional police arrested them one after another on August 30 and 31 on charges of makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) related to a protest action on August 28 in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta.
On October 22, the suspects' lawyer registered a pre-trail suit with the South Jakarta District Court. The Papua Advocacy Team believes that there were procedural irregularities in the arrests of the suspects.
"Our clients were never summoned as witness, but all of a sudden arrested and declared suspects", said lawyer Oky Wiratama. (ika/arh)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Pelimpahan Surya Anta dkk Disebut untuk Hindari Praperadilan".]