Tag: Jayapura

No witnesses appear at the trial of Buchtar Tabuni

 

 

Bintang Papua
13 September 2012Jayapura: A hearing in the trial of Buchtar Tabuni took place today in the Jayapura district court, without the presence of any witnesses  who might have been able to testify in court in support of the charge that the defendant had damaged Abepura Prison where he was being held.at the time.

One of his team of lawyers, Gustaf Kawer, said that there were a number of people who the prosecutor could have summoned to appear in court during the trial but he had not done anything to call these witnesses

Kawer said this was already clear at the earlier hearing on 10 September when the prosecutor  said that Matius Murib would be called to testify, but at the following hearing,  Murib did not attend as a result of which the presiding judge suspended. the hearing.

At the next hearing, it was the defendant, Buchtar Tabuni who was questioned. The presiding judge, Haris Munandar, asked Buchtar to tell the court  what he had done on 3 December 2010 when the prison was damaged.

Buchtar told the court that he had done everything he possibly could to prevent a crowd of people from inflicting damage in the prison.

‘I shouted to a crowd of people, calling on them not to enter the prison and start damaging it.’

This is the same as what Buchtar Tabuni told the court at the beginning of the trial.

[Translated by Carmel Budiardjo]

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Lawyer calls on judges to release Buchtar after all witnesses fail to appear

 

Bintang Papua,
11 September 2012
Jayapura: Gustaf Kawer, one of the lawyers defending the former chairman of the KNPB – National Committee of West Papua – said that the judges hearing the case of Buchtar Tabuni should have the courage to release the defendant  in the absence of any witnesses to testify against him. The lawyer said this followed the decision yesterday to postpone a further hearing in the trial.He said that from the start, he had commented that the the prosecutor in the case had shown no seriousness in handling the case against Buchtar. This is evident from the fact that none of the witnesses he had wanted to testify at the trial had appeared although several hearings had been held.

‘In the latest instance, the witness Matius Murib was to have appeared but he didn’t appear, even though he is known to be in Jayapura and his home address in known, so why  did he not appear?’

The lawyer   said Matius Murib is known to be well acquainted with the case and the judges should consider that if there is no evidence to prove that Buchter was responsible for damaging the  prison in any way, which was to have been proven by the witnesses all of whom had failed to appear, then the judges should take the bold  step of simply  releasing the man who is now on trial.

The lawyer also spoke about the many shootings  that have been occurring in the city of Jayapura  which have been linked to Buchtar, which was nothing more than a set-up. He said that Buchtar had been linked to the shooting of Miron Wetipo but that case has already been solved, so it was clear that the authorities were trying to make a scapegoat of Buchtar. Buchtar was arrested on 6 June 2012 which was just at the time when some shootings occurred in Jayapura which was followed by the arrest of Buchtar, whereas Buchtar was not in any way connected with those shootings. So instead of being charged with the shootings, he now faces the charge  of inflicting damage on the Abepura Prison in 2010, which means that he should have been arrested in 2010.

At the time, it was said that there were plenty of witnesses and now they were not even able to call Matius Murib as a witness.

The lawyer said that  the panel of judges should postpone further hearings until Matius Murib could be called as his testimony would be crucial for this trial. Gustaf insisted that there were plenty of witnesses who could give testimony regarding the damage inflicted on the prison, yet the prosecutors were not able to  get any of these witnesses to appear.

As is known, the hearing on 10 September was again postponed .

At the hearing held yesterday, the prosecutors were still not able to bring any witnesses to court.who would be able to testify about Buchtar’s alleged damage to the prison. The prosecutors has also been unable to summon Liberty Sitinjak who would have been a key witness  about the incident on 3 December 2010.

The prosecutor announced that Liberty was unable to appear to testify, even though he has been summoned three times. And now, the hearing held on 10 September was also suspended until 13 September while it was being said that Matius Murib, who was formerly and member of the National Human Rights Commission, would also not be able to  appear.

It has now been announced that the hearing that is due to take place on 13 September which was originally intended  to hear testimony from witnesses would now be devoted to questioning the defendant, Buchtar Tabuni.

[Translated by Carmel Budiardjo]

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KNPB ask police to prove what charges were against Mako Tabuni

 

Bintang Papua,
6 September 2012
Jayapura: At a time when the media is busily reporting about plans for a dialogue between Papua and Jakarta, following the visit to Papua by the Presidential Consultative Council under the leadership of Dr Albert Hasibuan, the KNPB – National Committee for West Papua, has responded by saying that there are issues that need to be discussed before any dialogue can take place.

‘Our way to solve the Papuan problem is for a referendum to be held and for the Papuan people to have the freedom run their own affairs in a state of their own.,’ said KNPB spokesperson, Wim R. Medlama, who spoke with two other activists alongside. He said  people should not be spending too much time  talking about the dialogue, because ‘the support in favour of freedom is widespread, down to the very roots of Papuan society’.

Another issue that he spoke about was the accusations that had been levelled against the late Mako Tabuni. After the arrest of Danny Kogoya for alleged terrorism and the acts of violence that have been happening in the city of Jayapura,  led the KNPB to ask a number of questions. The police were directing their allegations  these acts of terror against the late Mako Tabuni.

‘We call on the police to reveal who these people are who have been involved in the series of shootings, and we would like to hear the evidence about this. And now the same charges are being levelled against Danny Kogoya, so we would really like to know what facts the police have in relation to all this,’ said Medlama.

He said that when Mako Tabuni was shot and killed, all the allegations about the shootings had been directed against the late Mako Tabuni, and then after the arrest of Danny Kogoya, all these allegations were directed against him. ‘So what we want to know is what are the facts that have been discovered about all these shootings?’

The KNPB also said that the police should say what ammunition they had discovered at the office of Danny Koyoga. The KNPB accused the police of  making this up so as to be able to close down the democratic space for activists in Papua.

The KNPB also called on the police to reveal the truth about the shooting of the German citizen in Base-G, and about the burning of vehicles and their drivers in the Waena cemetery.

{Translated by Carmel Budiardjo]

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No terrorists in Papua, says governor

 

 

Bintang Papua,
9 September 2012
Manokwari: The governor of the province of West Papua, Abraham O. Atururi, said that there are no terrorists operating in Papua. He said that there are groups in Papua who are demanding independence for Papua, such as the OPM/TPN but these groups are quite different from the terrorists who are conducting acts of terror and shootings and bombings that are occurring  in Java and other parts of Indonesia.’If people say that there are Papuans who want independence, that is indeed true, but there are no terrorists.’

The governor was speaking at a public meeting in Manokwari.

The governor made this statement in order to contradict statements by political commentators  in the local press in Jayapura, claiming that terrorists are operating in Papua.

The paper also reported that the deputy chief of police in Papua, Brigadier-General Paulus Waterpauw recently denied that members of Densus 88 were operating in Papua.

(This is in contrast to the fact that the commander of Detachment 88, Tito Karnavian, was last week made the new Papua Police Chief, and repeated statements by police claiming Detachment 88 credit for apprehending so-called “terror suspects” across Papua in recent years – and significant video and photographic evidence of their presence at both armed raids, and against non-violent gatherings).[Translated by Carmel Budiardjo]

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Lawyer complains of lack of professionalism as Buchtar trial

 

 

JUBI, 10 September 2012The tight security by the police round the courthouse  while the trial of Buchtar Tabuni was  in progress was described as being unprofessional by a member of the legal team of the defendant.

Gustaf Kawer said: ‘The tight security round the courthouse  is a violation of the basic principles  of court practice. This is a public trial which means that anyone can come and attend it.  Excessive security  while the trial is in progress is very unprofessional,’ said Kawer.

Buchtar Tabuni is charged with having caused damage to the Abepura Prison on 3 December. The trial hearing was suspended and the trial will resume on 13 September, because witnesses did not turn up for the hearing as a result of which the lawyers  promised that they would produce the witnesses, said Matius Murib.

The hearing on 13 September will be the last occasion  for the witnesses to appear. The deputy director of the prison is adequate and will not be summoned again after having be summoned to appear three times.

Kawer said that the proceedings were not conducted professionally; the witnesses should have appeared at the appointed time but that did not happen. Furthermore, he said, the judge should behave  independently in the way he chairs the court and should not take sides either with the state or the victim..

At today’s hearing of the Buchtar Tabuni trial, there were forty people from Dalmas and the Jayapura police command, who were fully backed up  by personnel from the Abepura police command, who were headed by the head of the Jayapura police command, Kiki Kurnia.

[Translated by TAPOL]

 

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