[Kabar-Irian] Irian News - 1/16/06
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- Suspects in killing of American teachers expected trial in U.S., lawyer
says
- Suspects in Timika killing moved to Jakarta
- Indonesian police deny any military involvement in 2002 American teacher
killings
- Four more sought over shooting of Americans -Jakarta
- Indonesian Man Links Military to Shooting of U.S. Teachers
- Indonesia leader taps air marshal to head military
*****************************
Suspects in killing of American teachers expected trial in U.S., lawyer says
1/14/2006, 10:21 a.m. CT
By Zakki Hakim
The Associated Press
Jakarta, Indonesia (AP) — The men accused of killing two American teachers
agreed to meet FBI agents at a hotel in remote Papua province because they
were told they were going to be sent to the United States for trial, one
of their lawyers said Saturday.
But when the suspects arrived at the Amole II Hotel in the town of Timika
on Wednesday evening, the agents shoved them into a container truck and
delivered them to Indonesian police, said Anum Siregar, accusing the FBI
of entrapment.
U.S. and Indonesian authorities denied that.
The eight suspects now in police custody include Anthonius Wamang, who was
indicted by a U.S. grand jury in 2004 for the murders of Rickey Lynn
Spier, 44, of Littleton, Colorado, and Leon Edwin Burgon, 71, of Sunriver,
Oregon.
The teachers' vehicle came under fire as they returned from a picnic close
to a massive mine owned by New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper and
Gold Mine Inc. in a mountainous region of Papua in 2002.
Suspicion that Indonesian security forces may have been involved chilled
relations with Washington, which had already cut military ties with the
Southeast Asian nation over human rights concerns.
The FBI, working closely with Indonesian police, however found no evidence
implicating the military and in November full ties were restored — largely
because Washington wanted to help the mostly Muslim nation fight
terrorism.
Twelve people were detained Wednesday for their alleged role in the
attack, all described as Papuan separatists, but four have since been
released.
The others were flown Saturday to the capital Jakarta, where they will be
further questioned by police, said national police spokesman Brig. Gen.
Anton Bachrul Alam.
Siregar said the suspects agreed to meet U.S. agents at the hotel because
they were told they would be brought to America where they could defend
themselves against allegations of murder.
They were eager to go, she said, and had already packed their bags and
said goodbye to their families.
"They were promised that once in U.S. custody they could speak freely and
that their safety would be guaranteed," Siregar said. "They were even told
they would be given daily allowances while in the United States."
Officials at the U.S. Embassy and Alam, the police spokesman, said while
the two sides worked together closely, this was not a case of
bait-and-switch.
"We got the information that (the suspects) were gathering in the hotel,
so we nabbed them," said Alam. "We don't know anything about entrapment."
Some U.S. observers, meanwhile, said they wanted more details about
Wednesday's arrests to make sure the suspects weren't treated unfairly,
and weren't targeted simply because they opposed the government.
Wamang, who allegedly admitted to police that he was among those who
opened fire on the convoy, claims a group of men wearing Indonesian
military uniform also took part in the attack, said Siregar.
"There are so many unanswered questions in this case, including who these
people are and what role they may have had in these crimes," said Tim
Rieser, an aide to U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy.
A tiny separatist movement has persisted in Papua province, the primitive,
resource-rich western half of New Guinea island. Rights groups maintain
that about 100,000 people have died as a result of military action or
atrocities carried out by Indonesian troops.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
January 15, 2006
Suspects in Timika killing moved to Jakarta
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
Eight men arrested in connection with the murder of two American teachers
and their Indonesian colleague in Papua over three years ago have been
flown to Jakarta for further questioning, Albert Rumbekwan, one of their
lawyers, says.
They were flown on Saturday at 4 p.m. Papuan time on a Fokker 50 airplane
belonging to the National Police under the the escort of men from Papuan
Police Detachment 88, after being transferred by helicopter from police
headquarters here to Sentani Airport.
The police were forced to transport the suspects by helicopter as the road
to the airport was blocked by hundreds of angry protesters, who were
against the transfer.
Albert said the suspects' lawyers were also against the move, which was
"not done in the open", despite assurances from Papua Police chief of
crime investigation Sr. Comr. M. Situmorang to the contrary.
"We feel we are being cheated as the police moved them without informing
us," Albert told The Jakarta Post.
The suspects were transported overland to Trikora Military District
Command headquarters before boarding the helicopter.
During the rally, the protesters grouped in the United Front for the
Struggle of the West Papuan People, blocked the road in front of
Cendrawasih University, demanding the eight be questioned in Jayapura and
tried in Timika, where the incident happened.
"Why should the police move the suspects to Jakarta if they can be tried
in Papua?" Selpius Bobii, secretary-general of the front, asked.
The teachers were returning from a picnic on Aug. 31 2002, when their
convoy was ambushed near the Grasberg mine in Timika, on a road owned by
PT Freeport Indonesia. Two hundred rounds were fired in the attack,
killing the American teachers -- Rickey Lynn Spier and Leon Edwin Burgon
-- and Indonesian Bambang Riswanto. Eleven others were injured, mostly
Americans.
Through tough negotiations with Jayapura Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr.
Paulus Waterpauw and Jayapura District Military Commander Lt. Col. CHB
Viktor Tobing, the protesters agreed to disperse if Paulus signed a
statement calling off the transfer.
Before the statement was delivered, however, the suspects had left for
Jakarta.
"We were cheated," Albert reiterated.
Meanwhile, Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tomy Tider Jacobus said the
transfer would speed up the investigation, which had been hampered by the
departure of many witnesses from Papua, some of whom returned to the
United States.
Situmorang said the eight suspects would be treated well and returned to
Papua upon the completion of the legal process.
The team of lawyers is expected to travel to Jakarta as the Papuan Police
chief has given them three plane tickets.
Antonius Wamang, the main suspect in the killings, and 11 other members of
the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) were arrested on Wednesday in an
operation involving officers from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI).
Four have been released by the police while the other eight suspects,
including Wamang, have been officially named suspects.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indonesian police deny any military involvement in 2002 American teacher
killings
1/16/2006, 8:35 a.m. PT
By Chris Brummitt
The Associated Press
Jakarta, Indonesia (AP) — Separatist rebels were responsible for the 2002
killings of two American teachers in Papua province, but their intended
target was Indonesian soldiers, the police chief said Monday.
Gen. Sutanto also denied persistent allegations that soldiers themselves
were involved in the attack close to a massive U.S.-owned gold mine. The
claims had complicated relations between Indonesia and the United States
"Don't spread opinions like that, there is no proof," Sutanto told reporters.
Sutanto was speaking alongside Patsy Spier, the widow of one of the
victims, after they both met with Indonesia's president. Spier, who was
injured in the attack, said she was in Indonesia to be interviewed by the
police as a witness.
Last week, police arrested eight suspects in the killings on a windy and
foggy road leading to the mine. One of the men, Anthonius Wamang, was
indicted by a U.S. grand jury over his alleged role in the attack.
Sutanto said the attackers were all members of Papua's tiny separatist
army, and that they intended to kill soldiers who patrol the road. He said
police had forensic and other evidence, as well as confessions, to support
the charges.
"Indonesian soldiers were in the first vehicle that went past, but they
(the attackers) did not have time to shoot," he said. "Then the second
vehicle went past and they thought it also contained Indonesian soldiers."
Sutarto said the trials of the eight men would take place in Jakarta, and
the men could face the death penalty for murder.
In a brief statement, Spier said the arrests were a "remarkable"
development and praised the cooperation between the police and the FBI,
which also took part in the investigation. She declined to answer
questions from reporters.
US ambassador to Indonesia B. Lynn Pascoe praised the investigation.
"I believe this is a case where we can all be quite pleased with the
outcome to this point,"
Soon after the attack, police said that there were indications that
Indonesian military officers were involved. Lawyers for Wamang have said
in recent days that a group of men in Indonesian military uniforms were
also at the scene of the killings.
Human rights groups have suggested that the attack was an effort by the
military to discredit the separatist movement or extort money from the New
Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Mine Inc, which pays local
military and police units to guard the mine.
An FBI investigation, however, found no evidence implicating Indonesian
troops in the deaths Rickey Lynn Spier, 44, of Littleton, Colorado, and
71-year-old Leon Edwin Burgon of Sun River, Oregon. An Indonesian teacher
was also killed and eight other people were seriously wounded.
All the victims worked at a school for children of mine employees.
In 1999, Washington cut military ties with Jakarta over human rights
concerns. Cooperation with the FBI probe into the Papua killings was
stated as further condition of restoring links.
In November last, full military ties were reinstated with Indonesia,
largely because the United Nations wanted to help the mostly Muslim nation
fight terrorism.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Four more sought over shooting of Americans -Jakarta
16 Jan 2006 10:50:59 GMT
Source: Reuters
Jakarta, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities are hunting for four
more people over the 2002 killing of two Americans in Papua province,
police said on Monday after declaring eight men suspects in the case last
week.
The eight were arrested on Wednesday over an ambush that killed two
Americans and an Indonesian, all teachers from a school run by PT Freeport
Indonesia, a unit of U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., which
operates mines in Papua's mountains.
"We are now searching for four more," police chief General Sutanto said
after a meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Patsy
Spier, the wife of one of the slain Americans.
Sutanto did not say why police were specifically looking for four people,
but four men detained along with the eight suspects last week have since
been released.
Police dossiers against those eight were nearly complete and their trials
would take place in Jakarta, Sutanto said.
"Statements from some suspects say all of them did it. But we need to get
input from more witnesses, including from the Americans who have returned
to the U.S.," Sutanto said, without elaborating.
The eight suspects could face the death penalty.
Spier, a survivor of the ambush, praised Indonesia's efforts to find the
killers but insisted American agents should also continue to be involved.
"We discussed the importance of a transparent and credible process for
this case. President Yudhoyono clearly shares this goal of transparency,"
she told reporters.
"I believe the process should include our FBI investigators participating
in the interviews," said Spier, referring to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, which was involved in last week's arrests.
Indonesia-U.S. ties were strained by the incident.
Relations have improved and the arrests came after Washington restored
military ties in November with the most populous Muslim nation as a reward
for helping the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
One of the eight suspects is Anthonius Wamang, a separatist indicted by a
U.S. federal grand jury in 2004 on two counts of murder and several counts
of attempted murder over the killings.
The investigation into the shooting was a key factor behind the U.S.
decision to restore military ties.
Before the resumption, Washington had said full military ties required
prosecution of the people behind the Papua killings.
Washington cut back military ties after Indonesian troops shot
demonstrators in East Timor in 1991, killing dozens, when the tiny
territory was ruled by Jakarta.
Ties were severed after pro-Jakarta militias backed by elements in the
military sacked East Timor in 1999 when the territory voted for
independence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New York Times
Indonesian Man Links Military to Shooting of U.S. Teachers
By Raymond Bonner
Published: January 14, 2006
Jakarta, Indonesia: An Indonesian man has admitted to the police that he
fired shots during an ambush that killed two American schoolteachers in
the province of Papua in 2002, but also said he saw three men in
Indonesian military uniforms firing at the teachers' convoy as well, his
lawyer said Friday.
The accused, Anthonius Wamang, who has been indicted in Washington in
connection with the killings and was lured to his arrest by FBI agents on
Wednesday, also told the police that he had been given his bullets by a
senior Indonesian soldier, Wamang's lawyer, Albert Rumbekwan, said in a
telephone interview from Papua.
The shootings, on a road owned by the US company Freeport-McMoRan, which
runs the world's largest gold mine in the area, have for years been a
stumbling block to the efforts of US President George W. Bush's
administration to improve relations with Indonesia.
The US had severed relations for 12 years with the Indonesia military over
human rights abuses. Prior to restoring those ties in November, Bush
administration officials consistently sought to absolve the Indonesian
military of any link to the killings.
Wamang's confession contradicts public statements by Bush administration
officials that there was no military involvement.
For Freeport, based in New Orleans, the killings have been troubling. The
teachers worked at a Freeport school and were returning from a picnic. At
the time, Freeport was paying Indonesian soldiers and military units to
protect its facilities, according to company records recently obtained by
the New York Times.
Since the 1960s, the company has operated in a sometimes uneasy
coexistence with local Papuans as well as the military in the restive
province. In the past, Indonesian soldiers and disgruntled Papuans have
acted together against Freeport, at one point orchestrating riots to
extract greater benefits from its massive operations, according to
accounts from former and current employees.
Wamang's statements now suggest that this same loose coalition may also
have responsible for the killing of the teachers, Edwin Burgon, 71, and
Ricky Lynn Spier, 44.
Wamang, a member of a Papuan separatist group, told the police he emptied
one magazine from an M-16 into the windows of the teachers' vehicle,
Rumbekwan said. When he finished, he said, he was surprised to see the
three men, in uniforms and masks, firing from another angle, Wamang told
the police, according to his lawyer.
Wamang and 11 other suspects were detained on Wednesday after being lured
by the FBI to a small hotel in Papua, the Amole II in the town of Timika.
"We believed we were going to the US," Viktus Wanmang, a 57-year-old
farmer who was among those detained, said in a telephone interview. He was
released, along with three others, on Friday. The remaining eight are
still being held.
He and the others had been told that they would be interviewed about the
teachers' case in the US, because it would be safer for them there, said
Wanmang and Denny Yomaki, an official with the Institute for Human Rights
Study and Advocacy in Papua. The men were told their families would be
given about US$70 for each day they were away, Yomaki said.
They arrived with their bags packed, Wanmang and Yomaki said. But when
they reached the hotel, they were instead greeted by two FBI agents, and a
third person, who some of the men thought was a Freeport employee, Yomaki
said.
The FBI agents hustled the men into a windowless truck.
"The car was driven at high speeds," said Wanmang. The FBI agents sat in
front.
"When we stopped, when the car door opened, there was a group of police
waiting," he added.
The US embassy declined to comment on the circumstances of their capture,
or about Wamang's assertion that the military may have been involved in
the teachers' killings.
None of the men have been charged with crimes, except Wamang, who has been
indicted in the US on two counts of murder and eight counts of attempted
murder.
Eight US citizens were wounded in the ambush, and an Indonesian teacher
was killed, along with the two US teachers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indonesia leader taps air marshal to head military
Mon Jan 16, 2006 12:48 PM IST
Jakarta (Reuters)
Indonesia's president has nominated the air force chief to take over as
armed forces commander, the parliament speaker said on Monday, amid
nationalist pressure to choose a hardline army general.
The country's armed forces has lost some of its powers since the downfall
of the military-backed regime of former autocrat Suharto in 1998, but
still retains much influence.
"I have received a letter from the president proposing a name to get
parliamentary approval for the military commander's post ... (It's) Air
Marshal Djoko Suyanto," parliament speaker Agung Laksono told reporters.
Suyanto is the first air force commander nominated for the top military
job. The air force is the least powerful of the three branches of the
Indonesian military.
His nomination will probably irritate nationalist politicians, especially
from the opposition Indonesia Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), which has
rallied behind ex-army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu.
The outgoing armed forces chief is General Endriartono Sutarto, known as a
professional soldier who has largely kept the military out of politics
since his appointment in 2002. He has passed retirement age.
Suyanto's nomination, predicted by some military analysts, had been seen
as a way for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to buy time before he can
nominate current army chief and close friend General Djoko Santoso to the
top post.
Although Ryacudu and Yudhoyono were former classmates in the army academy,
their leadership styles are vastly different.
While the English-speaking Yudhoyono is seen as a thinking general who
feels comfortable with foreigners, Ryacudu has been known for his
anti-foreign views and harsh attitude towards separatists in Aceh and
Papua provinces.
Ryacudu and the younger Santoso are the only active army generals eligible
for the job, which must go to someone who has led either the army, navy or
air force. Ryacudu holds no formal post at present.
Picking one over the other might cause divisions within the army so
Yudhoyono may wait until Ryacudu retires, analysts say. Ryacudu was highly
popular with ordinary troops.
Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri and current head of the opposition
PDI-P had groomed the tough-talking Ryacudu to be armed forces commander.
But her loss to Yudhoyono in 2004 elections scuppered those plans.
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