According to the Kaki Abu Legal Aid Institute (LBH Kaki Abu) in Sorong, one of the suspects arrested in relation to the attack on a military post in the Kisor Village, Maybrat Regency, is currently undergoing trial at the Sorong District Court. Four soldiers were killed during the attack. LBH Kaki Abu is representing a 14-year-old defendant. He has been charged with murder, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment as regulated under Law No. 11/ 2012 on Juvenile Criminal Justice System (UU SPPA). The minor was arrested in the Kokas Village, Aifat District, on 28 September 2021.
The lawyers represent the view that the arrest and prosecution of their client resulted from multiple criminal procedure breaches during the early law enforcement. Police officers reportedly tortured the arrestees. Their hands were tied and their eyes blindfolded with cell tape (see photo, source independent HRDs).
The police interrogated the accused minor twice without a lawyer or legal guardian being present. The first interrogation on 29 September 2021was conducted without a lawyer being present. Thereupon, the Sorong-Selatan District Police handed over the case to another lawyer of their choice who did not attend the second interrogation, as required under the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP).
The police officials published the full name of the defendant in an official press release. Article 19 of UU SPPA stipulates that the identity of juvenile suspects and defendants must be protected from the public.
The public prosecutor claims that the minor participated in the planning of the attack against the military post and the killing of an army member. The police reports state that the key witness allegedly saw him cutting the victim’s upper leg with a machete. According to the lawyers, the autopsy reports indicated that the victim’s body did not show any wound on the body parts described by the key witness. His fingerprints were not found on the murder weapon.
Moreover, the key witness himself reportedly repealed his testimony in the police report, arguing that the police officers forced him to provide names and a confession. Another witness confirmed that the juvenile defendant was not in the Kisor Village at the time of the attack, but stayed in the village of Susumuk, where he attended school.
The verdict was scheduled for 3 December 2021.
