Asia Pacific Report newsdesk
Former Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma has also joined activists and Victor Yeimo’s family along with Yeimo’s lawyer who protested at the private residence of the Papua chief public prosecutor in the Doc 5 area of Jayapura city at the weekend, reports Suara Papua.
Karma revealed that he was shocked at the attitude of the public prosecutor who was still “showing his racism” towards Yeimo during their visit on Saturday.
The panel of judges at the Jayapura District Court hearing last Thursday, August 26, ordered the prosecutor to facilitate the defendant, who is accused of “treason”, being given healthcare — an up examination and inpatient care at a hospital.
Just like before and despite being urged by several parties over the last two days following the court’s ruling, the chief public prosecutor has not demonstrated good faith, say critics.
When Yeimo was being examined by a medical team at the Jayapura pubic hospital on the evening of Friday, August 27, the prosecutor accompanied by security personnel put pressure on Yeimo not to be treated overnight.
He was then returned to the Papua regional police Mobile Brigade command headquarters detention centre where he has been detained since his arrest in May.
Yeimo’s lawyer, who is part of the Papua Law Enforcement and Human Rights Coalition (KPHHP), has already met all of the administrative requirements for Yeimo’s hospital treatment, including providing guarantors from the Papuan Regional House of Representatives (DPRP) — legislators John NR Gobai and Laurenzus Kadepa, as well as an advocate.
‘Long-winded lawsuits’
“Legal affairs in Indonesia are indeed like this, excessively long-winded,” he said.
“Indonesia does not regard life as important — procedures are more important than people’s lives.”
Karma said the prosecutor’s actions were “strange”, especially because ipso facto it was an an indigenous Papuan who had not heeded the order by the judges.
“Because the prosecutor is a Papuan, he’s afraid of being labeled as biased towards Papuan independence. So, he will try to show that he is more nationalist than the Javanese,” said Karma.
“Yet in the eyes of the Javanese, he’s ‘just a monkey’. I lived in Java for a long time, so I have felt this.”
Yeimo must be treated first because, according to Karma, a suspect and a defendant was guaranteed by law to receive treatment if they were ill.
“What we want this evening is for brother Victor Yeimo to be allowed to be treated in hospital. But this has not happened because of other considerations and they say they are following legal procedures,” he said.
‘Surrender to God’
Because of efforts to get Yeimo treated in hospital have not been carried out, Karma is calling on all Papuans to “surrender to God”.
“We will cool our passionate hearts, let us rise in hymn and prayer. Myself and all of us exist not just because of power, but rather because Jesus who lived before us, today and forever,” Karma said.
KPHHP litigation coordinator and Yeimo’s lawyer Emanuel Gobay believes that the Papua chief public prosecutor’s response to Gobai and Kadepa when he met with them at his private residence was different from the court’s ruling that his client receive inpatient treatment because his state of health had deteriorated while being detained at the Mobile Brigade detention centre.
“We have heard the chief public prosecutor’s response. If seen from the court’s ruling, there is difference in how it is seen,” he said.
“What the chief public prosecutor has conveyed proves that he does not respect the judges’ ruling at the Abepura Class IIA District Court.
“The public prosecutor has gone against the court’s order.”
Speaking in front of Yeimo’s family and activists gathered in front of the prosecutor’s home at 8am, Gobay said Yeimo’s lawyers would accompany him at the next hearing on Tuesday. His guarantors, Gobai and Kadepa would also attend the hearing.
Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. Slightly abridged due to repetition. The original title of the article was “Filep Karma Heran Jaksa Masih Hambat Victor Yeimo Dirawat”.
