Ten convicts attempted to escape the Abepura Detention Facility (Lapas Klas IIA Abepura) in Jayapura on the 24 April 2019. A group of local residents discovered the escapees shortly after the escape and beat them before prison wardens brought them back to the detention facility. The Papuan representative office of the national human rights commission (KOMNAS HAM Papua) launched an investigation into the deaths of Maikel Ilinmaton (25 years) and Selyus Logo (27 years). The investigation was unable to prove whether the wardens had tortured the prisoners as a form of punishment for the attempted escape. However, the investigation came to the result that negligent behavior by the prison wardens was a contributing factor for the deaths of both prisoners.
After the mob attack, the wardens had brought the prisoners back to the detention facility instead of immediately admitting them to a medical facility. The injuries which Maikel Ilintamon sustained as a result of the beatings (see image on the right) were so severe that he died in the evening of 24 April 2019. Selyus Logo passed away on 3 May 2019 (see intro image). Representatives of the Abepura prison facility claimed that Selyus Logo died of a sickness. Contrary, KOMNAS HAM investigators who examined Selyus Logo’s body at the Abepura general hospital stated that he had a head injury which was still bleeding at the time of examination. The relatives of the deceased prisoners have filed a lawsuit against the Abepura hospital, alleging that the wardens had allegedly tortured the convicts.
The Papuan representative office of KOMNAS HAM published four recommendations to the Jayapura municipality police. One recommendation suggests the Jayapura police to interview several witnesses including the other in-mates who participated in the prison break.
