Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Around 300 supporters of a Papuan student activist facing trial for treason staged a rally at Jayapura District Court on Wednesday.
They demanded the court free Buchtar Tabuni, 29, deputy secretary of the Central Mountain Papua Indonesia Students Alliance (AMPTPI) of all charges. The protesters, led by Victor Yeimo, unfurled banners and shouted "Free Buchtar. none of the charges could implicate him."
The protests outside failed to disrupt the courtroom proceedings, where prosecutor Maskel Rambolangi read out the charges against the defendant.
Officers from the Jayapura Police's riot unit and the Papua Police's Mobile Brigade were on hand to provide security at the trial presided over by judge Manungku Prasetyo.
Buchtar was accompanied at the hearing by 25 of the 53 lawyers listed as his legal advisers.
AMPTPI secretary-general Mar-kus Haluk told reporters the rally was aimed at overseeing the treason trial, to ensure the judges were impartial in arbitrating the case. "In principle, Buchtar is not guilty of committing treason. He was only conveying his aspirations. Why was he accused of treason?" he said.
When Buchtar was arrested during a protest at the Waena Expo complex on Oct. 16 last year, Markus said he was just conveying his aspirations and the crowd was crying out for independence, referendum and a national dialogue, which was not new to the government and security forces in Indonesia, because Papuans frequently express them each time they hold demonstrations.
"We even shouted the same words in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, but why was Buchtar arrested for expressing them and later accused of treason?" Markus said.
He added his group would continue monitoring the case so it could be tried fairly and peacefully. "We don't wish to intervene; we want to actions that are against the law," he said.
Buchtar was arrested by police in Sentani on Dec. 3 last year, more than two months after he led the protest at the Waena Expo in Jayapura, which authorities deemed as subversive. If found guilty, Buchtar, who is also accused of instigation and resisting arrest, could face 20 years in prison.