On 22 July 2021, judges at the North Jakarta District Court found Papuan activists Roland Levy and Kelvin Molama (see photo, source: AMP) guilty of attacking another student named Rajid Patiran and sentenced them to five months imprisonment. Both activists are students and associated with the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP), which has organised peaceful protests on political and human rights-related issues in West Papua across Indonesia. The lawyers represent the view that the judges did not consider various pieces of evidence and the defendants’ testimonies in the verdict. They suspect that the judges might have been pressured to sentence the students guilty for their involvement in peaceful political activities.
Police officers arbitrarily arrested Kelvin Molama and Roland Levy inside a Papuan student dormitory in Jakarta on 3 March 2021. Lawyers identified multiple shortcomings in the law enforcement process against the activist. The police officers entered the dormitory in civil clothing and failed to show a warrant at the time of the arrest. Police officers repeatedly rejected the lawyer’s request to get a copy of the police investigation report. Moreover, Police Chief Regulation No. 6/2019 on Criminal Investigation states that the police should summon suspects to investigate criminal offence involvement allegations. Suspects shall only be arrested if they are caught in the act of committing a crime.
