Trial of Pole charged for links to Papuan separatists postponed

Pulse News Agency International by AFP

December 17, 2018 9:22 AM

An Indonesian court Monday delayed the trial of a Polish man who faces up to 20 years' jail for alleged links to Papuan separatists because he did not have access to a translator.

Papua declared itself independent in 1961, but neighbouring Indonesia took control of the region two years later

Jakub Fabian Skrzypski was detained and charged in August after meeting suspected rebels in the restive province of Papua, according to prosecutors, who said he made contact with them in a bid to spread information about their fight for independence.

Jakarta is deeply sensitive about Papua, where a low-level insurgency against the central government has simmered for decades, and routinely blames separatists for violence in the region.

The Indonesian island region shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea (PNG), just north of Australia.

Skrzypski was due to stand trial with a Papuan man on Monday in Wamena, where he was arrested, but proceedings were called off because the court failed to book a flight for a translator, the town's prosecutor Ricarda Arsenius said.

The trial will resume on January 8.

Skrzypski faces a range of charges under Indonesia's criminal code, including a plot to overthrow the government and joining an outlawed rebel group, according to a copy of the indictment seen by AFP.

Prosecutors said the Pole had met with leaders of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) and was found with documents and video detailing the Papuan struggle for independence.

It is also alleged that Skrzypski and his co-defendant discussed the possibility of procuring arms from Poland.

Police previously said they had confiscated from Skrzypski and three Indonesians more than 130 rounds of ammunition, but no mention of that was made in the indictment.

Skrzypski's lawyer Latifah Anum Siregar said the Pole, who was living in Switzerland before his arrest, denied any wrongdoing.

In a letter sent to the Swiss newspaper Le Temps in September, Skrzypski said he was merely a tourist in Papua.

"They (the investigators) are telling stories about ammunitions, but I've never seen or possessed any.

"They are trying to accuse me of an attempted coup, but all I've done was meeting some indigenous Papuans, who were not armed," he said in the letter.

Papua, a former Dutch colony, declared itself independent in 1961, but neighbouring Indonesia took control of the region two years later on the condition it hold an independence referendum.

About 1,000 handpicked Papuans unanimously chose to be part of Indonesia in the UN-backed referendum, which is widely considered a sham.

The region, one of Indonesia's poorest, has been the site of a long-running insurgency ever since, and has experienced several spasms of violence this month.

At least 16 employees of a state-owned company, who were building bridges in a major infrastructure push for the impoverished region, were killed by separatist rebels in early December.

At least four more workers remain missing, while a soldier was also killed by the rebels, authorities said.

Indonesian security forces have long been accused of rights abuses against Papua's ethnic Melanesian population including extrajudicial killings of activists and peaceful protestors.

Pulse News Agency International by AFP