PAPUA -- COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTIONS FOR RAISING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000059 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/ANP, DRL, DRL/AWH NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2019 TAGS: PGOV PINS PHUM ID SUBJECT: PAPUA -- COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTIONS FOR RAISING BANNED FLAG REF: A. JAKARTA 2341 ¶B. JAKARTA 2046 JAKARTA 00000059 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A court in Papua in eastern Indonesia has upheld a lower court's treason conviction of 12 Papuan activists for raising a banned separatist flag. The court quadrupled the activists' sentences in the process. In other Papua news, alleged members of a separatist group raided a police post in a remote mountainous region and made off with some firearms. Contacts have speculated that the attackers may have been criminals rather than politically-motivated Papuans. The incident, however, has raised GOI concern about a possible recrudescence of armed separatist activity. END SUMMARY. VERDICT UPHELD ¶2. (U) On January 8, the High Court based in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province, upheld the treason convictions of 12 Papuan activists for raising the banned "Morning Star" flag during a March 2008 rally Manokwari. In November, a lower court in Manokwari, the capital of West Papua Province, found the 12 guilty and sentenced them to eight months in prison (see ref B). The defense appealed the conviction to the High Court, which has jurisdiction over both Papua and West Papua provinces. (Note: The GOI considers the flag a separatist symbol and has banned its use.) SENTENCES LENGTHENED ¶3. (U) In upholding the convictions, the High Court also lengthened the activists' sentences to three years from the eight months meted out originally by the trial court. (Note: One defendant, Jack Wanggai, received a three and a half year sentence on the grounds that he led the group.) In a statement explaining the finding, presiding judge (and ethnic Papuan) Elsa Mutiara Napitupulu said the defendants posed "a threat to the Indonesian state" by advocating separatism. She also charged--without further clarification--that "foreign influences" were supporting the defendants' activities. (Note: "Foreign influences" could be a coded reference to Western countries or maybe Papua New Guinea, which Indonesians sometimes see as supporting a nascent Papua irredentist movement.) ¶4. (C) Defense lawyer Jan Christian Warinussy, expressed surprise and disappointment at the verdict. He told poloff that the defense team had expected to have the convictions overturned. According to Warinussy, the prosecution's poor performance making their case in the original trial had led to the initially light sentences. He expected this, however, to lead the higher court to overturn the convictions entirely, especially since the prosecution had provided no additional evidence of guilt in response to the appeal. Warinussy said he believed that the court had succumbed to "political influence," although he offered no specifics to back up this claim. ALLEGED SEPARATIST ATTACK ON POLICE POST ¶5. (U) Possible separatist activity of a more violent sort occurred when alleged members of the Papua Freedom Movement (OPM) raided a police post in Puncak Jaya district, central Papua, in the early morning hours of January 9. (Note: The attack took place in Tinggi Nambut, a remote village located in a rugged mountainous region.) The Puncak Jaya regent (regional head of government) Lukas Enembe told the press about the incident and said a police officer's wife had been stabbed in the attack. He said the attackers had made off with four firearms and 60 rounds of ammunition. Papua Police Chief General Bagus Ekodanto said police were searching for JAKARTA 00000059 002.2 OF 002 the attackers. TENSIONS LINGER ¶6. (C) The GOI, understandably, will not tolerate separatist activity in any region of the country, including Papua, and will come down hard against it. The GOI recently locked up Islamic hard-liners in West Java, for example, who wanted to form their own "state within a state" -- see ref A. That said, the flag raising charges continue to anger Papuans, who see the flag as a regional and cultural--and not--as a separatist symbol. ¶7. (C) In the meantime, save for some smaller incidents, the OPM last struck in force in Papua's central highland region in 2003 when they raided an armory in Wamena, the largest town in the area. Contacts in Papua have told us that this recent attack does not necessarily mean that the OPM is ramping up its activities. They report that the group is highly fragmented and has no clear leadership. Moreover, they note that the attackers may simply have been criminals. The GOI, however, remains worried about the OPM and security forces monitor the situation closely. HEFFERN