On 14 January 2019, the District Court in Wamena launched the trial against Polish citizen Jakub Fabian Skrzypsk. Skrzypski was charged with the articles 106 and 110 of the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP) on treason because he had met with members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-PB). The police claimed that he intended to sell weapons to the TPN-PB. The panel of judges found Skrzypski guilty and sentenced him to five years imprisonment. Jakub Skrzypski’s team of lawyers and the public prosecutor had both filed an appeal against the verdict to the Supreme Court in May 2019. The Supreme Court has now ruled that Skrzypski’s imprisonment sentence shall be raised to seven years.
Jakub Skrzypski has been serving his sentence in a detention cell at the Jayawijaya district police. His lawyers had demanded a transfer to the Jayawijaya detention facility because Skrzypski had repeatedly expressed concerns over the detention conditions at the Jayawijaya district police station. According to Skrzypski, on 1 December 2019, police officers came to his cell and asked him repeatedly why he had traded weapons with TPN-PB members. The officers often come to the cell and search his personal belongings, said Skrzypski. He understood these actions as attempts of intimidation and harassment. Skrzypski’s lawyers are concerned about the number of detainees in the cells, which occasionally extends the detention capacities at the police station. The detention conditions affect the health of detainees, particularly of those serving long term sentences.
