On 29 December 2021, Maikel Yaam and five other defendants who were arrested in relation to the attack on the military post in Kisor, Maybrat regency, were flown from Sorong to Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan Province, where they will stand trial. The trial was moved from the district court in Sorong to Makassar after the high prosecutor’s office in the Papua Barat Province wrote a letter to supreme court in November 2021, in which the prosecutors expressed security concerns. The transfer violates provisions of the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP), stipulating that the trial should be held in the legal area of responsibility, where the crime was committed.
The police submitted the case files of the six defendants to the public prosecutor on 21 December 2021. They have been charged with Articles 340 in conjunction with Article 55 (1) of the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP) on premeditated murder, Article 338 KUHP in conjunction with Article 55 (1) KUHP on homicide or Article 170 (2) KUHP in conjunction with Article 55 (1) KUHP on violence against persons or objects or Article 353 (3) KUHP in conjunction with Article 55 KUHP on persecution leading to death.
Previously, judges of the Sorong district court found 14-year-old LK, guilty of murder and sentenced him to eight years imprisonment. The human rights NGO TAPOL and Kaki Abu Legal Aid Institute (LBH Kaki Abu) released a video entitled “LK dan Pusaran Kerasan di Papua (LK and Systemic State Violence in Papua)” on 29 December 2021, calling on the court to free LK unconditionally and call on the Indonesian Government to provide justice for all victims of violence in West Papua. Two other minors, YA and MS, will still have to stand trial in relation to the attack against the Kisor military post, where four soldiers were killed.
