Two trainee organizations at the University of Indonesia (UI) have decided to submit an amicus curiae– a brief used by someone who is not party to a case– in support of seven Papuan activists on trial for treason for their participation in the 2019 antiracism protests in Jayapura, Papua.
The brief was drafted jointly by the UI Student Executive Body (BEM UI) and the UI School of Law Student Executive Body (BEM FHUI).
Previously this month, district attorneys at the Balikpapan district court in East Kalimantan demanded in between five and 17 years of jail for the 7 Papuan accuseds for their involvement in rallies in Jayapura. The demonstrations were in reaction to a racial abuse event targeting Papuan college student residing in a dormitory in Surabaya, East Java.
The trainees in the dormitory were attacked physically and verbally by security workers– who apparently called them “monkeys”– and members of mass companies who implicated the Papuans of declining to commemorate Indonesia’s 74 th Independence Day.
The responding protests in Jayapura began peacefully however later turned violent and resulted in lots of injuries and a number of structures being harmed.
In a statement on Friday, the trainee body union argued that the treason charges were not proper and recommended that the authorities who were managing the case had racial predispositions against Papuans.
They added that the protests in Jayapura in 2015 were not meant to damage the security and the sovereignty of the nation but instead were tranquil protests to respond to the racist acts in Surabaya.
” All of the criminals [of the Surabaya incident] have been called to account with minimum charges. Prosecutors are looking for to put behind bars the Papuan [activists] for up to 17 years,” BEM UI and BEM FHUI argued in the statement.
They stated the demonstrations were a type of political expression ensured by the Constitution and other international human rights instruments under the flexibility of speech and expression.
” Therefore, all of [the defendants] have to be devoid of all charges, specifically treason,” the trainee coalition said.
BEM UI and BEM FHUI they had been holding public demonstrations to express their view on the matter however had not encountered any issues. “On the other hand, these Papuan activists were charged with treason for opposing,” they said. “This is a real symptom of the racial predisposition that is taking place in our police.”
The trainees hoped that the court would find that racial biases had actually influenced the law enforcement personnel who had actually dealt with the case.
” We also hope that our amicus short will be considered conversation material for the judges to reach their decision,” they said.
This amicus curiae — a Latin term significance “friend of the court”– was not the very first attempt by UI students to highlight what numerous think about persecution of Papuans for their political advocacy.
BEM UI just recently held a public discussion on racism against Papuans in the legal system. Nevertheless, the UI administration later on released a statement disavowing the event, stating the conversation did not “show the views and mindsets of UI as an organization”.
An alliance of UI speakers consequently revealed their assistance for the discussion and admired BEM UI for arranging it because it promoted the spirit of complimentary speech among university academics.
Although amicus briefs are more common in nations that use a typical law system, there are also some precedents for the submission of such briefs in Indonesia, which uses a civil law system.
In 2013, for example, the National Commission on Human Being Rights (Komnas HAM) submitted an amicus curiae in an appeal of the decision in a case regarding an attack in Cebongan Penitentiary in Sleman, Yogyakarta.
Other parties have sent comparable briefs, consisting of Indonesia Corruption Watch in the case of an acid attack on Corruption Removal Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) in a blasphemy case including then-Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
