Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – A Papuan separatist received a life sentence on Tuesday and six others were handed shorter jail terms for the murder of two Americans and an Indonesian four years ago near a massive US-operated mining complex.
Antonius Wamang and six other defendants had been on trial since July on charges that carried a maximum penalty of death over the attack, which strained Washington-Jakarta relations. Wamang's two main accomplices were sentenced to seven years each while the four others got 18 months as accessories.
The defendants, who consistently protested against the legitimacy of the trial, had walked out of the courtroom and returned to their holding cells before Andriani Nurdin, head of a three-judge panel, read the verdict on Wamang.
"The panel decides to declare (Wamang) guilty of carrying out pre-meditated murder and heavy battery," Nurdin said. Another judge said Wamang's crime was a gross human rights violation and he had shown no remorse.
The verdicts were greeted with angry shouts from scores of supporters of the defendants in the packed courtroom. Ahead of the verdicts they had yelled "SBY, Puppet of America" – referring to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono – and "Free the Seven Papuans."
But American Patsy Spier, who was wounded and widowed in the ambush, said in a statement she was convinced the verdict was correct.
"I truthfully testified in the proceedings about the attack and how it has affected me," said Spier, who lobbied hard for authorities to investigate and prosecute what she called "a brutal and unprovoked assault."
"I also believe that the sentence of life imprisonment for Antonius Wamang and the sentences for the other defendants are fully warranted and just," she said.
Teachers killed
Those killed were teachers from a school for children of US-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
A Freeport unit runs the lucrative Grasberg mining complex, believed to have the world's third-largest copper reserves and one of the biggest gold deposits, in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua.
The incident sparked suspicions the Indonesian military was involved, and prompted Washington to demand Jakarta prosecute those behind the killings if it wanted resumption of military ties, severed in the 1990s over Indonesian actions in East Timor.
Tension cooled after Indonesia allowed US investigators into Papua and suspects were arrested and charged.
The prosecution said Wamang and other gunmen were near the mine in late August 2002 to attack Indonesian soldiers who were part of its security detail.
Wamang allegedly thought white cars passing through the mining area carried troops and decided to open fire. In fact, the two vehicles were transporting Americans and Indonesians who worked for the Freeport-run school.
Three people were killed in the initial shooting and four others seriously injured, prosecutors said. The gunmen then shot at three trucks, wounding the drivers of each vehicle.
Washington restored military ties last year with Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, after expressing satisfaction with cooperation in the Papua case and as a reward for its help in the US-led war on terrorism.
[With additional reporting by Jerry Norton.]