DEFENDANTS WALK OUT AS FBI AGENTS TESTIFY AT

UNCLAS JAKARTA 011342

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FBI PLS PASS TO CTD/ITOS I, CTD/ITOS II, GOU
SECSTATE FOR EAP/MTS AND DS/DSS, DS/IP/EAP, DS/EAP/ITA, AND
CA/OCS/ACS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC CASC KJUS ID
SUBJECT: DEFENDANTS WALK OUT AS FBI AGENTS TESTIFY AT
TIMIKA TRIAL

REF: A. JAKARTA 11145 AMCITS TESTIFY AT TIMIKA TRIAL

B. JAKARTA 10704 WITNESS TESTIMONY IN TIMIKA TRIAL
TO BEGIN

C. JAKARTA 8958 TIMIKA TRIAL OPENS


1. (U) The defendants and their attorneys walked out of the
courtroom in protest as FBI Special Agents Ron Eowan and Paul
Myers gave testimony at the September 12 session of the trial
of seven men accused of killing two amcits in Timka, Papua in

2002. As Eowan was taking the witness stand, defendant Ishak
Onawame gave a statement claiming that the FBI agents had
tricked them into discussing the case with them and
requesting that the judge disallow them from testifying. The
statement elicited shouts of support from the other
defendants and from observers in the courtroom. Chief Judge
Nurdin overruled the request and stated that anyone opposed
to allowing the agents to testify could leave the courtroom.
In response, the defendants and their attorneys walked out of
the session, and lead defense attorney Johnson Panjaitan gave
a press conference outside the room as the witnesses gave
their testimony. Johnson stated to the journalists present
that there was a prior agreement to allow all the victims to
testify before other witnesses were brought in, and that this
was the basis for his protest as several Indonesian victims
had yet to testify.


2. (U) During their testimony, Eowan and Myers introduced
several videos into evidence. Two of the videos show weapons
believed to have been used in the attack. Another shows
Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) guerrilla leader Kelly Kwalik
stating that while he did not order the Timika attack, it was
carried out by men under his command. A third video was a
clip from a foreign news program in which defendant Antonius
Wamang confesses his involvement in the attack to a
journalist. Eowan and Myers then went on to describe a
series of meetings held with the defendants between December
2003 and March 2004 in which several of the defendants
confessed their roles in the attack. According to Eowan,
Wamang stated that he originally planned an explosive attack
on the road from Timika to Tembagapura in order to disrupt
the activities of the Freeport Mining Company, which the
defendants claimed was displacing Amungme families. However,
Wamang told Eowan that he lacked expertise with explosives
and so decided to stage an attack on the Indonesian military
forces (TNI) assigned to protect Freeport instead. According
to Eowan's testimony, Wamang said that they attacked the
civilian vehicles by mistake. Eowan said that Wamang
confessed to the FBI because he was under pressure from his
community to make clear that the intended target of the
attack was the TNI, not civilians, but that he was afraid to
speak to the Indonesian police. Since the defense was not
present in the courtroom, there was no cross-examination of
witnesses.


3. (U) After the testimony of the two agents, the Judge
adjourned the court until September 15, when ballistics
expert Brett Mills will testify. Two Indonesian victims are
also expected to testify. Both translators are expected to
be present at the September 15 session.
PASCOE