JUBI, 17 March 2011
A team of ten lawyers acting on behalf of the eight nurses from DokII General Hospital in Jayapura [who are now under arrest] have told the Papuan Provincial Administration that it is not right for the nurses to have been criminalised by the police. It would be far better to enter into dialogue as the way of solving the case.
‘We dont agree with the decision to criminalise the nurses, and we also dont agree with the disruption in healthcare services. We believe that there is space for a dialogue between the governor of Papua, the hospital director and the nurses at the hospital to seek a solution to the case, said Yusman Conoras, one of the ten lawyers.
Another lawyer, Olga Helena Hamadi, said that the nurses had indeed held a demonstration and a strike. These actions had given voice to the feelings of many people. ‘But the issue should be carefully examined in order to understand why they had done these things,’ she said. She said they had taken action because they had not been paid. They had been working hard but their rights had not been respected. She said that the matter should not be handled by the police because it relates to an internal matter which should be resolved with the government and the Papuan legislative assembly.
She warned that the continued detention of the nurses could only further complicate matters and trigger a major problem..
A press release issued by the lawyers expresed deep concern that the issue of the nurses had not yet been resolved. They were also concerned about two decisions taken by the provincial government, namely Decision No 125 concerning the payment of incentives, and then the subsequent decision to cancel the incentive payments.
The lawyers acting for the nurses include Lativa Anum Sireger, Dominggus Frans, Pieter Ell, Olga Helena Hamadi, Corry Silpa, Simon Patirajawane, Eliezer Murafer, Jimm Ell, and Yusman Conoras.
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