JAKARTA: Indonesian police on Wednesday named a prominent human rights lawyer and activist a suspect in connection with Twitter posts about an incident that triggered unrest in Papua, prompting rights groups to condemn the police action.
Lawyer Veronica Koman is accused of intentionally spreading information via her Twitter account that could lead to hatred based on ethnicity, religion, race or groups, Frans Barung Mangera, a spokesman for East Java police, said by telephone.
She could be jailed for up to six years and fined 1 billion rupiah ($70,000) under an electronic information and transactions law if found guilty.
Koman has used her Twitter account to share videos, photographs and comment on the situation in the easternmost region of Papua, where the most serious civil unrest in years has erupted over perceived racial and ethnic discrimination.
The protests were triggered by racist slurs against Papuan students, whose dormitory was tear gassed during their detention in the city of Surabaya on Java island on August 17, Indonesia’s Independence Day, for allegedly desecrating a national flag.
The case against Koman is based on a video of the Surabaya incident she posted on Twitter on August 17, national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said, without giving details. Koman posted two videos on Twitter of the incident. About 6,000 police and military personnel have been flown in to Papua, reinforcing a heavy military presence in a region that has endured decades of mostly low-level separatist conflict.
One of the deadliest incidents was in the rural town of Deiyai last week, although there have been conflicting accounts from authorities and activists. Papuan police spokesman Ahmad Kamal said on Monday at least one soldier and five civilians were killed. — Reuters
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