Makassar – A panel of judges at the Makassar District Court in South Sulawesi has sentenced four defendants from the pro-independence group the Federal State of the Republic of West Papua (NFRPB) to seven months in prison over a treason case in Papua.
The defendants, Maksi Sangkek, Abraham Goram Gaman, Piter Robaha and Nikson May (Nikson Mai) were tried in turns with the verdicts read out by presiding judge Henry Dunant Manuhua.
In their verdict, the panel of judges stated that the defendants were proven guilty of the crime based on witness testimony, evidence and the facts of the trial, as stated in the prosecutor's second indictment, Article 106 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) point 1 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).
"We sentence the four defendants to seven months in prison in this alleged treason case", said Manuhua in reading the verdict on Wednesday November 19.
In the verdict, the panel of judges said that the actions of the four defendants had the potential to disrupt the security and sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).
"The defendants were cooperative, showed remorse, and participated in the trial process properly", they said.
The verdict is considerably lighter than the eight-month prison sentence demanded by the public prosecutor (JPU).
Following the trial, the defendants' legal counsel, Yan Christian Warinussy, stated that they accepted the court's decision.
"We respect the panel of judges' decision. We still disagree because from the outset, we have requested that our clients be acquitted. The trial evidence did not demonstrate the evidence the prosecutor referred to in the indictment", said Warinussy in a press release. (mir/wis)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "4 Terdakwa Makar di Papua Divonis 7 Bulan Bui".]
