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