Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Lawyers for seven men charged with the 2002 killings of two Americans and one Indonesian in Papua province entered a not guilty plea for their clients Tuesday, saying the indictments were obscure or baseless.
"The defendants have been made scapegoats as part of an effort to clean up the image of the TNI (Indonesian Military) and mend military ties between the United States and Indonesia," chief lawyer Johnson Pandjaitan told the Central Jakarta District Court. He did not elaborate.
The suspects were indicted for killing US nationals Ricky Lynn Spier, 44, and Edwin Leon Burgen, 71, and their Indonesian colleague, FX Bambang Riwanto, in an armed ambush near PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika district.
Johnson said the charges against key suspect Antonius Wamang, who has confessed to shooting at the vehicles carrying the Freeport employees, were obscure.
"Prosecutors charge Antonius with recruiting the other six defendants to help him vandalize the road to Freeport, but they do not clearly say whether he planned to vandalize the road or to commit murder," Johnson said.
He said the indictments against Agustinus Anggaibak and the five other defendants were premature as their case was related to that of Antonius, who had not been proven guilty.
Antonius' six colleagues are accused of aiding him in launching the assault. "The police said Agustinus Anggaibak and Yulianus Deikme knew nothing about the order, while the rest only knew that there was a request from Antonius to sabotage the Freeport road," Johnson said.
He said the seven suspects could not be charged with premeditated murder because they actually intended to vandalize Jl. Tembagapura, rather than commit murder.
Johnson also said the Supreme Court's order to move the trial from Timika district to Jakarta was invalid. Such an order should have been issued by the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, the lawyer argued.
"The 'security reasons' for the trial to be moved to Jakarta ahead of the Papuan gubernatorial election were an exaggeration, because the poll ended peacefully," he said. "After all, all regions (across the country) will hold local direct elections, and that should not necessarily cause court proceedings to be moved."
During the Tuesday court hearing, the seven defendants continued to protest against being tried in Jakarta. They refused to sit in the defendants' chairs, and kept silent during the proceeding. Johnson said the arrests of the suspects by FBI agents in January were also invalid because they were carried out without arrest warrants.
"They were deceived by the FBI agents, who persuaded them to come out of hiding with a promise that they would be brought to the US so they could tell about the injustices in Papua. But in fact they were turned over to Indonesian authorities," the lawyer said.
Johnson also said his clients were not accompanied by a translator during the investigation, and most of them could not speak Indonesian fluently.
Presiding judge Andriani Nurdin adjourned the trial until Aug. 15, when it will continue with or without the presence of the defendants.