[Kabar-Irian] News: July 13-17 2006

[Admin]

July 13 - July 17 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS

TOPICS

* Papua Responds to Sound of Forests Falling
* PAPUA: Human rights seminar planned
* Incident in Puncak jaya
* Greens Senator alleges Aust govt did Papuan migrant deal
* Drunk policeman killed by incensed residents
* Papuan refugee in fear in PNG as family is safe in Australia
* West Papuan student urges solidarity
* Indonesia yet to complete Freeport audit - minister (via ASAP)
* Papuan mob kills officer over shooting
* Papuans bicker over governor's inauguration
* NEC wants to help non-Javanese secure Dutch scholarships
* Abepura defendants face stiff sentences



---

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/13/AR2006071301832.html

Papua Responds to Sound of Forests Falling

But Law Enforcement Is Often Lax; Detective Who Tracked Illegal Logging
Faces Trial

By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, July 14, 2006; Page A17

JAYAPURA, Indonesia -- Marthen Renouw is a steely-eyed detective who
boasts that he was the first cop in Papua province to go

after environmental crime. Now, the slim man with a quick gait is fending
off charges that he took $120,000 in bribes to

protect illegal loggers whose chain saws and trucks allegedly damaged
thousands of acres of virgin forest in this remote

Indonesian province.

He did receive the money, he said in an interview. He called it a loan
from friends to hire speedboats and helicopters used

in the crackdown. The fact that he was investigating the friends' company
at the time he received their money was no

conflict, in his view: "We didn't think that they were conducting illegal
activity."

The State vs. Marthen Renouw opened in February. He is charged with
receiving bribes and with money laundering, the first

time that charge has been used in an illegal logging case here. The
prosecution is part of an unprecedented government

campaign of arrests and confiscations aimed at ending an illicit business
that each year has been clearing Indonesian forest

areas roughly the size of Belgium.

Legal and forestry experts say, however, that the campaign often loses
steam once it hits the courts. A recent report by the

World Bank, a British government development agency and the Worldwide Fund
for Nature said that cases frequently fail because

of incomplete case files, poorly trained judges, restrictions on evidence,
tensions between police and prosecutors, lack of

prosecutorial oversight and corruption.

"Illegal logging cases in Indonesia almost always result in acquittals,"
Yenti Garnasih, an expert on money laundering and

forestry crimes and a law professor at Trisakti University in Jakarta, one
of the country's premier universities. "Why?

Sometimes the police and other officials are involved with the illegal
logging. They manipulate the evidence. Or they give

out fake permits. The police take bribes. And sometimes after that, the
prosecutor helps out with a weak indictment."

The Renouw case grew out of Indonesia's first large-scale assault on the
trade. Operation Forest Protection 2005 focused on

Papua, the country's most remote region, more than 2,000 miles east of the
capital, Jakarta. Squads of police and soldiers

swooped in, seizing 72,000 logs and 850 logging trucks and ending rampant
illegal logging in the province.

Of 193 people charged, more than 60 are at large and only 12 have been
convicted, according to national police statistics.

The longest sentence imposed was two years. The people convicted were
mainly logging camp managers, chain saw operators, boat

captains and other low-level personnel. Many of their bosses, the people
who run the illegal businesses, appear to have fled

to neighboring Malaysia or other countries.

It was remarkable, many legal analysts said, that someone of Renouw's
stature was even arrested. He has 28 years on the force

and has friends in the national police headquarters.

Here is what the state alleges: Between September 2002 and December 2003,
about $120,000 was transferred into four bank

accounts held by Renouw in Jakarta and Jayapura, the capital of Papua
province. The payments were allegedly made by officials

of logging company PT Marindo Utama Jaya and a front company, PT Sanjaya
Makmur, which operated in Bintuni Bay district.

In that period, Renouw was investigating illegal logging in the area. One
of the companies being probed was Marindo. Renouw

reported nothing amiss with the company's logging license, and the initial
Marindo probe ended there.

Most of the transfers were made by a Marindo officer named M. Yudi
Firmansyah, who Renouw said in an interview was a "trusted

friend." Wong Sie King, who police say ran Marindo, though his name does
not appear in its legal records, made a $13,000

transfer to Renouw's account in November 2002, according to the
indictment. Renouw said he never met Wong.

The transfers, the state alleges, were made so that Marindo could operate
heavy logging equipment even though it had no valid

permit to do so. The state also alleges that Renouw used the money to
charter helicopters and speedboats for the police

investigation. Under Indonesian law, that amounted to laundering the
money, prosecutors contend.

The police budget for timber investigations is a mere $275 per case,
Renouw said in an interview in a hotel overlooking this

provincial capital's seafront. "If we wanted to go to the field, we had to
ask for help from friends," he said, nursing a

Coca-Cola. "But asking for help from friends is what I was blamed for."

Renouw said that as long as he checks in periodically with police, he can
move freely around Jakarta, Jayapura and Bali.

In the interview, Renouw acknowledged receiving the money but insisted
that he did not make personal use of any of it. He

pulled from a folder a sheaf of receipts for speedboat, helicopter and
other charters. The receipts totaled more than

$100,000.

He said he intended to repay the loan from the proceeds of auctioning
seized timber.

He said that in a follow-up investigation of Marindo, in January 2004, he
found evidence to charge 21 people connected to the

company. "If I'm corrupt, why did I take them to court?" he said.

Attempts to locate Wong Sie King, who was indicted and convicted in
absentia, and Yudi Firmansyah for comment for this

article were not successful. Marindo is no longer in operation; the
company itself was not charged with wrongdoing.

Firmansyah was indicted separately from the 21 employees; he remains at
large.

Neta Pane, chairman of the Indonesian Police Watch presidium, a group that
monitors police practices in Indonesia, has been

tracking the Renouw case. He said that of 150 cases of illegal logging and
corruption his group has reviewed in the past five

years, including Renouw's case, almost all appeared to involve illegal
activity by police officers, though winning their

conviction is difficult. "It is a kind of conspiracy between the police,
the forestry department and the companies involved,"

he said. "Nobody is willing to tell the truth. They want to protect each
other."

Bambang Widjoyanto, a lawyer for Indonesia Corruption Watch, an
anti-corruption group, said that allegations that Marindo

employees operated heavy equipment without a proper forestry permit and
smuggled precious hardwood timber -- mostly to China

-- all point to involvement of more officials. If the allegations against
Renouw are true, he said, "It's impossible that he

acted alone."

But Djabaik Haro, the Papua chief prosecutor who drafted the indictment,
said the national police investigation concluded

that Renouw worked on his own. "This is a serious example of how no one is
above the law," he said. "We want to win this

case."

---

Title -- 4973 PAPUA: Human rights seminar planned
Date -- 12 July 2006
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pacific Media Watch
Source -- Te Waha Nui Online 11/7/6
Copyright - AUT Journalism
Status -- Unabridged
--------------------------
* Pacific Media Watch Online - check the website for archive and links:
www.pmw.c2o.org <http://www.pmw.c2o.org/>
* Post a comment on this story at PMW's Right of Reply:
www.voy.com/166636/ <http://www.voy.com/166636/>

West Papua:
TWO KEY SPEAKERS LINED UP FOR HUMAN RIGHTS SEMINAR
http://www.tewahanui.info/news/140606_wpSpeakers.shtml

AUCKLAND (AUT Journalism/Pacific Media Watch): A West Papua Baptist church
leader and an Australian-based human rights

campaigner have been confirmed as key spokespeople to address an
international conference on the Indonesian-ruled Pacific

territory next month.

Organiser Maire Leadbeater, of the Indonesian Human Rights Committee, told
Te Waha Nui Online that Socratez Sofyan Yoman,

president of the Communion of Baptist Churches in West Papua, and John
Wing, coordinator of the West Papua Project at the

University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and co-author
of the report Genocide in West Papua? had

confirmed they would speak at the two-day seminar.

The seminar will be held at AUT University conference centre on August 18-19.

“The seminar programme is already attracting considerable interest and
will include workshops on human rights issues, West

Papuan history, environmental threats and a politicians’ forum,”
Leadbeater says.

“The much admired documentary film, Land of the Morning Star, will be
screened. The seminar is open to all comers.”

In the past eight years, Rev Yoman has taken an increasingly high profile
as a campaigner for peace, justice and human rights

in West Papua.

He has briefed Australian, British and European parliamentarians as well
as United Nations representatives about West Papua.

Rev Yoman has written five books about West Papua, including Papuans Are
Not Separatists and Gate to Free Papua.

John Wing has been involved with human rights issues in Indonesia for 20
years.

He was appointed coordinator of the West Papua Project at the University
of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies in

2003.

His “genocide” report last year on the current human rights,
environmental, political and social situation in Papua has

stirred controversy and been a key reference for governments and
parliamentarians.

Wing is keen to deliver alternative sources of electricity - such as solar
and micro hydro power - to remote areas of Papua.

He also hopes to provide cheap, simple lighting to homes and refrigeration
for clinics.

+++niuswire

PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH ONLINE
http://www.pmw.c2o.org

PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government
organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and

other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics,
accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership

in the Pacific region.

(c)1996-2006 Copyright - All rights reserved.

Items are provided solely for review purposes as a non-profit educational
service. Copyright remains the property of the

original producers as indicated in the header. Recipients should seek
permission from the copyright owner for any publishing.

Copyright owners not wishing their materials to be posted by PMW please
contact us. The views expressed in material listed by

PMW are not necessarily the views of PMW or its members.

Recipients should rely on their own inquiries before making decisions
based on material listed in PMW. Please copy appeals to

PMW and acknowledge source.

For further information, inquiries about joining the Pacific Media Watch
listserve, articles for publication, and giving

feedback contact Pacific Media Watch at:

Email:
delaro at clear.net.nz
Fax: (+679) 30 5779
Mail: PO Box 78028, Auckland 1002, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Website: www.pmw.c2o.org <http://www.pmw.c2o.org>

---

From:  FPCN WEST PAPUA
Date: 15 July 2006 11:57:07 GMT+02:00


The elite troops of Indonesian Police called Brimob attacking local people
in Puncak Jaya, West Papua.

Puncak Jaya, July 13,2006. Brimob troops is a elite troops of Indonesian
Police take action in Puncak Jaya West Papua to

doing operation  for OPM activists in Puncak Jaya. Brimob troops doing
operation every villages in Puncak Jaya so, local

people in Puncak Jaya lost the their traditional gardens, their houses
burned by Brimob. Brimob troops check and intimidation

every local people.

The reason of this operation is for delate the OPM activists in Puncak
Jaya make that local people is the victims of this

operation. West Papua think that the problems of West Papua politic status
is International problems so, Indonesian security

not take the ways self to do solution for West Papua  as the operation
done by Brimob troops.

Approximated 4 decades West Papua under control over  of Indonesian, West
Papua people under the repressive Indonesian about

West Papua fighting of their rights for Independent.

According to Brimob trategis that local people in Puncak Jaya is the OPM
activists so, Brimob troops done operation for local

people.

Some local people not agree with this operation so, their do same effort
to protest the Brimob operation  as  attacking

Brimob too. Some local people running to mountains to take safety personal

---

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/greens-senator-alleges-aust-govt-did-papuan-migrant-deal/2006/07/14/1152637865236.html

Greens Senator alleges Aust govt did Papuan migrant deal

July 14, 2006 - 7:06PM


The Australian government has done a special deal to persuade PNG to take
in three Papuan men who should have been processed

in Australia, says Greens Senator Kerry Nettle.

The three men, picked up in the Torres Strait in May, passed through PNG
but stayed less than seven days and so should not

have been returned from Australia to PNG under a 2003 agreement between
the two countries, she said tonight.

Australian officials said the three were returned earlier this month under
the 2003 agreement in which PNG agreed to readmit

from Australia any third-country nationals who had been in PNG for more
than seven days but had failed to seek asylum there.

But Nettle, who has been on a fact-finding mission in PNG, said PNG Border
Affairs Director Chris Kati told her in Port

Moresby today the three had been in PNG for less than seven days.

"They should not have been subjected to that policy, they should have been
processed in Australia," she said.

"A special arrangement was made. The Papua New Guinea minister responsible
made the decision to accept those three asylum

seekers even though they had not been PNG for seven days.

"To me that says the Australian government is desperate to not have West
Papuan asylum seekers being assessed in Australia

because under normal operating procedures they would have been assessed in
Australia.

"Why give Australia more than you've previously agreed to give Australia?"

Nettle said it was fair to ask the Australian government if an inducement
had been offered.

Comment was being sought from Australia's immigration and foreign affairs
departments.

The three Papuans are now in the East Awin refugee camp in PNG's Western
Province.

Earlier this month Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono welcomed
the return of the three Papuans to PNG.

Relations between Australia and Indonesia were strained over recent months
following the granting of temporary protection

visas to 42 Papuan asylum seekers who made it to Cape York in January.

AAP

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnews.asp?fileid=20060716.A02&irec=1


Drunk policeman killed by incensed residents

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

A police officer who was allegedly drunk when he shot dead his female
companion was mobbed and killed Saturday by hundreds of

villagers in Tolikara, Papua.

The dead woman has been identified as 20-year-old Selfi Kogoya.

The police officer, Second Brig. Yermias Phiter Webiser, was recognized by
the angry residents as he accompanied two other

officers to the police station in Karubaga village at about 7 a.m..

Yermias died at the scene. The other officers were seriously injured and
their vehicle damaged.

Yermias and Selfi had gotten into a heated argument at about 4 a.m. after
drinking together.

After shooting Selfi, Yermias fled to the house of his parents-in-law,
asking them to go with him to the station.

Second. Brig. Taslim was taken to Wamena General Hospital in Jayawijaya
regency with a gash on his forehead. Yermias' other

companion, Second Brig. Yasen Lensor, suffered wounds to his foot and
abdomen.

Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tommy Yacobus expressed regret over the
incident. "I have often warned my subordinates about

alcohol. Nothing good has ever come from drinking."

He urged Papua's police chiefs to deal promptly with any officers caught
drinking, particularly to the point of intoxication.

In South Sorong regency on Friday night, First Brig. Jhony Waponggah shot
two residents after drinking .

Onisimus Ginuni, 28, was shot in the head and Frengky Sumarsono, 26, in
the chest.

The two were taken to Sorong General Hospital, while the suspect is being
detained at Papua Police Headquarters in Jayapura

for questioning.

"I will fire him ... to teach other officer who like to drink a lesson,"
Tommy said.

---

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/bulletins/rnzi/200607171043/1b86847a


Papuan refugee in fear in PNG as family is safe in Australia

Posted at 10:43am on 17 Jul 2006

An Australian opposition senator says a Papuan woman, Siti Pandera
Wanggai, whose husband and daughter have been given

protection visas stills fears for her safety in Papua New Guinea.

Yunus Wanggai and his four year old daughter Anike fled from Indonesia to
Queensland in January, claiming they suffered

persecution at the hands of Indonesian authorities.

They were given refugee protection in Australia along with 40 other Papuans.

Ms Wanggai became embroiled in a controversy after she was reported saying
her daughter was taken from her without permission

but she later said she was forced to make the statement.

Mrs Wanggai then fled to Papua New Guinea where Greens senator Kerry
Nettle met her twice last week.

    "She is currently in hiding in Papua New Guinea because there have
been three separate instances where individuals have

been sent by the Indonesian government to make contact with her in order,
as we understand, to bring her back to West Papua

in Indonesia."

Kerry Nettle

Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand International


---

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2006/675/675p9b.htm

West Papuan student urges solidarity

Alby Dallas

Hendrik Ervan Baldus from the People’s Democratic Party of Indonesia is
the chairperson of the Papuan National Student Front.

He attended the 35th Resistance national conference, giving greetings from
both organisations.

Baldus recounted the history of two centuries of Dutch colonial rule in
West Papua and the sham United Nations referendum,

which in 1969 formally handed Indonesia control of the resource-rich
province. (Indonesia had formally administered West

Papua since 1963.) He outlined the military and economic repression
experienced by West Papuans and said that, while the

country is rich in minerals and other natural resources, most West Papuans
still live by subsistence farming.

“The economy is driven by non-Papuans and the profits from companies [such
as the giant Freeport goldmine] are not being put

into health, education and agricultural improvements”, Baldus said. He
said that whether or not West Papua is a “failed

state” is hotly debated within Indonesia. But, he added, this was rather
academic because only when West Papua is truly free

can its people begin to address the problems facing them. “West Papua must
be guaranteed self-determination, regardless of

what path they choose to take, without fear or coercion”, Baldus said.

Asked what Australians could do, Baldus said they should pressure both the
Australian and Indonesian governments to support

Papuan independence and to demand an immediate end to joint military
exercises. “Without full support, the struggle will be

very difficult, even after independence has been won. Australians must
ensure that the Howard government supports the West

Papuan people, otherwise the backward West Papuan economy will ensure that
we remain slaves to imperialism.”

>From Green Left Weekly, July 19, 2006.

---

Indonesia yet to complete Freeport audit - minister (via ASAP)

XFN-ASIA - July 14, 2006

Jakarta -- A comprehensive audit on the operation of
PT Freeport Indonesia, which was initially expected
to be completed last month, is not finished yet,
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo
Yusgiantoro said.

"Today we just listened to a report from the audit
team on the five subjects. We will have other
meetings," he told reporters following a meeting with
the audit team.

The five subjects of the audit are environmental
impact, security, community development, production
and revenue.

Separately, Witoro Soelarmo, the ministry's technical
environmental director who chairs the audit team,
said he hopes the final result will come out in two
weeks.

The ongoing audit was partly sparked by violent
protests back in March, requesting the closure of
Freeport's gold mine operation in Papua.

The company has been variously accused of not giving
enough to the people of Papua in return for the mine,
and of polluting and being responsible for human
rights abuses through their use of the military for
protection.

Under its contract, Freeport must make royalty
payments to the government of between 1.5 and 3.5 pct
of its copper sales and 1 pct of its gold and silver
sales. The government is also entitled to receive
dividends for its 9.36 pct stake in Freeport.

Company sources have said that Freeport's total
payment to the government in dividends, taxes and
royalties in 2005 was estimated at 1.09 bln usd,
compared with 260 mln in 2004 and 334 mln in 2003.
The sharp rise was attributed to price and production
increases. PT Freeport is a unit of Freeport-Mcmoran
of the US.

---

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1687569.htm

Papuan mob kills officer over shooting

Police say a mob of about 1,000 villagers has killed a police officer with
an axe in retaliation for the shooting death of a

villager in Indonesia's remote Papua province.

Police spokesman Kartono Wangsadisastra says the officer shot the villager
during a drinking session in Karu Barga [sic]

(Admin:  Karubaga), a tiny village in Papua's highlands.

"The victim and the officer were drinking together until they were drunk,"
he said.

"And then at around 6:00am [local time], the officer took a gun from the
local police station and shot the man."

He says the officer fled to his house, where he was detained by fellow
police.

But Mr Kartono says a mob of around 1,000 people armed with bamboo sticks
and axes later ambushed the police van taking the

officer to the police station.

"Half way along the road, the car was stopped by an armed mob, they took
him and killed him straight away with an axe," he

said.

Two people have been flown to hospital in nearby Wamena after being
seriously injured in the clashes between police and

villagers.

Mr Kartono says an additional 60 police have been flown into Karu Barga to
try to restore calm.

"People there are still emotional but we are trying to have a meeting with
traditional leaders," he said.

- AFP

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060715.G01

Papuans bicker over governor's inauguration

National News - July 15, 2006

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

An ongoing dispute between the Papuan Legislative Council and the Papuan
chapter of the General Elections Commission (KPUD

Papua) over procedures in the handover of election results has delayed
indefinitely the inauguration of the governor-elect

Barnabar Suebu.

KPUD representatives say they have handed over the election results,
whereas legislators assert that the handover was not

conducted in line with existing procedures.

Yan Ayomi, head of the legislative council's election committee, said
Friday that the legislature would not be able to hold a

special plenary session to set the date for the inauguration of the
governor-elect and submit a recommendation to the home

minister.

"If the document has not been submitted formally, how can the legislature
process it?" asked Ayomi, who is also the head of

the Papuan chapter of Golkar Party.

According to Ayomi, KPUD Papua should have handed over the document in a
committee meeting or a special plenary session, not

to an individual legislator.

"KPUD Papua should have given the document to the election committee,
which would later invite other councillors to a plenary

meeting before making a proposal to the home minister," Ayomi said.

Commenting on a letter sent to the home minister by the council deputy
chairman Komaruddin Watubun on June 6 proposing the

inauguration of the governor-elect, Ayomi said that it was not in line
with procedures and was therefore invalid. A day

earlier council chairman John Ibo sent a letter to the home minister to
annul the letter sent by Komaruddin.

Meanwhile, KPUD Papua refused to accept that the handover of the results
of KPUD's plenary session on June 1 2006 to the

council had been declared invalid.

"We have done it in line with existing procedures. There is no rule that
the results of the KPUD plenary session have to be

handed over in a council plenary session or the special regional election
committee meeting. What is clear is that the KPUD

has to hand over its results three days after the plenary session and
we've done it," Yohanis G Bonay, a KPUD Papua member,

said.

As KPUD Papua has handed over the results of its plenary session, the
council should have responded to it," Bonay said.

Amid the uncertainty, the Papuan provincial administration has set up a
committee, led by provincial secretary-general Andi

Balo Bassaleng, to carry out the inauguration ceremony.

In a related development Papuan governor-elect Suebu's lawsuit for
defamation against DPRP chairman John Ibo has entered the

trial stage at the Jayapura District Court. Previously Suebu had claimed
damages of Rp 150 billion (US$15,789) from John Ibo,

while John Ibo in turn filed a counter suit against Suebu, demanding Rp
1.4 trillion in damages.

Papuan Police have responded to a defamation complaint filed by Suebu
against John Ibo by questioning a number of witnesses,

while John Ibo has reported Suebu to the National Police Headquarters on
charges of using fake documents.

A member of the Papuan working group in Jakarta, Frans Maniagasi said the
delay in the inauguration of the Papuan

governor-elect would be unfavorable for the Papuan people and hoped that
the new governor would be installed before the visit

of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Papua on July 26.

The home minister's letter to the Papuan Legislative Council questioning
the confusion over the inauguration date of the

governor-elect, Frans said, should have been responded to with a plenary
session, and not by blaming KPUD Papua.

"The results of KPUD Papua are already in the hands of the legislative
council and the council should have followed it up,"

Frans asserted.

Frans further urged the council to stop all the fuss, saying that if the
council did not make a proposal for the inauguration

of the governor-elect to the home minister, the Papuan people would.

"The legislators are representatives chosen by the people, while the
governor was directly elected by the people. So as the

people's representatives the legislature should implement the people's
mandate by making a proposal for the inauguration of

the governor-elect," he reiterated.

---

NEC wants to help non-Javanese secure Dutch scholarships

World News - July 15, 2006

The Netherlands Education Center (NEC), which among other activities
provides scholarships for Indonesians, plans to provide

an English learning facility next year to help applicants from outside
Java get accepted at international schools throughout

the Netherlands.

The NEC, which this year has disbursed 4.5 million euros (nearly US$6
million) to finance StuNed (Studeren in Nederland)

scholarships to 170 young professionals, said it wanted to see more
applicants from outside Java, particularly eastern

Indonesia, as well as applicants from the media.

"I'm glad to announce that this year more journalists got scholarships,"
Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Nikolaos van Dam said

during a press conference at the NEC office Thursday.

This year, NEC saw more applicants from the media, and 10 journalists,
including three from The Jakarta Post, received

scholarships to study for master's degrees and journalism training.

Last year, the NEC awarded scholarships to seven journalists.

NEC director Ad de Leeuw said at the press conference that the NEC's
policy was to give scholarships to people they believed

could act as "agents of change".

>From 2000 to 2006, StuNed has given scholarships to 956 Indonesians. While
StuNed hopes to see 50 percent of scholarship

recipients from outside Java, currently that figure is 30 percent.

"The problem is the language block. Therefore, starting next year,
applicants who permanently work outside Java can take

five-month English courses," de Leeuw said.

Hopefuls are encouraged to apply to the NEC far in advance. Those who are
eligible but do not have the minimum TOEFL score

(550) can first take an intensive English course.

Ambassador Van Dam said much of Dutch-Indonesian bilateral relations were
focused on together reaching the Millennium

Development Goals, which include poverty eradication and good governance.

The total amount of funds disbursed by the Netherlands for cooperation
projects with Indonesia in 2005 stood at 85 million

euros. --JP

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060713.G01


Abepura defendants face stiff sentences

National News - July 13, 2006

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Prosecutors on Wedneday demanded judges at the Jayapura District Court
sentence 19 people accused of involvement in the

bloody incident in Abepura on March 16 to between four and 15 years' jail.

Five security officers were killed in the incident.

Former secretary-general of the Pepera Front Selphius Bobii is on trial
for inciting others to kill. If found guilty, he

could be sentenced to up to six years' jail.

Selphius, who was accompanied by his lawyers Iwan Niode, Harry Maturbongs
and Paskalis Letsoin, has also been accused of

distributing fliers encouraging the Papuan people and students to lobby
the government to shut down the giant mines of PT

Freeport Indonesia.

Selphius was arrested on March 16, just before the clash between
protesters and security officers erupted.

Prosecutors considered him to have been uncooperative during both the
trial and the investigation and found no mitigating

circumstances to merit leniency.

After hearing the sentence demand, Selphius was escorted out of the court
room. He said he would not stop struggling, even

behind bars.

He said he was fighting not for his own interests but for the Papuan
people's.

"I'll be found guilty and sent to prison. But for the Papuan people, I'll
remain a hero."

Fifteen years is being sought for another defendant, Luis Gedi, who is on
trial for killing three security officers and

assaulting others.

Luis Gedi and an associate Ferdinand Pakage allegedly killed the three
officers by hurling rocks at their heads. Prosecutors

earlier demanded 12 years' jail for Ferdinand.

Besiur Mirim and Elias Tamaka could face up to six years' jail, while four
years was sought for Othen Dapial, Ekanol Lokobal,

Musa Asso, Moses Lokobal, Mon Obaja Pawika and Mathias Dimara.

Earlier in the day, Johnson Panjaitan, the lawyer of five defendants --
Sedrik Jitmau alias Ricky JItmau, Piter Stevanus

Buinei, Muhammad Kaitam alias Ahmad, and Yahya Echo Merano Berotabui alias
Eko -- responded to the indictment.

He began with a prayer written in 1994 by Tuara Narkime titled The cry of
a black man, to which there is no response.

The defense statement itself was titled Fighting against wolves in sheep's
clothing.

Panjaitan said most of the defendants' statements were given to police
through intimidation.

Sedrik said police had forced him to confess to the killings. "For the
sake of truth and justice, I declare the statements I

made to be false and given under police intimidation and violence."

Responding to Sedrik's statement, Jayapura Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr.
Taufik Pribadi said he would take stern action against

any officers who had violated procedures, but believed they had just been
doing their jobs.

---