Three members of the organisation ‘West Papua National Committee’ (KNPB) named Simon Sasior, Marten Muk and Yakobus Assem, have been standing trial at the Sorong District Court since 15 September 2020. Police arrested the three political activists in relation to the killing of a Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer during a raid in the Maybrat Regency in late April 2020. Although the raid was conducted to track down homicide perpetrators, none of the three activists have been charged with murder. Instead, the public prosecutor has raised charges against defendants for alleged treason and criminal conspiracy as stipulated under Articles 106 and 110 of the Indonesian Criminal Code, for being associated with the KNPB. The KNPB is a political movement organisation which is conducting peaceful protests to advocate the right to political self-determination of the Papuan people through a referendum.
The trial will continue on 30 September 2020 with the public prosecutor’s opinion on the defence plea. Lawyers of the Kaki Abu Legal Aid Institute (LBH Kaki Abu) filed a plea against the indictment during the previous court session on 23 September 2020 (see intro image, source: Suara Papua).
The defendants’ family members respected the trial but urged the Sorong police not to obstruct the lawyers during the trial process. In early May 2020, police officers prevented three lawyers of LBH Kaki Abu from accessing a police detention facility, where they wanted to talk with the three defendants.
