Sentani, Jubi – Emanuel Gobay, the coordinator of the Papua Law and Human Rights Coalition and legal counsel to Viktor Yeimo, said there was often discrimination by the security forces when guarding the trial against Yeimo at the Jayapura District Court.
Gobay said that in every trial, his client was always escorted by hundreds of security forces with combat equipment. This does not happen in other trials at the Jayapura District Court.
“This is disturbing our client mentally,” Gobay told Jubi in Sentani, Monday, April 17, 2023.
According to Gobay, the presence of an excessive number of security forces was because the Court requested them to secure the trial process. However, this is not the case in other trials. Therefore, Gobay deemed law enforcement officials discriminated against Viktor Yeimo, an Indigenous Papuan.
“The police and judges are not professional in carrying out their duties in accordance with Law No. 39/1999 on human rights,” he added,
He further questioned the security standards of the Court, “Inside the courtroom there should be no firearms or sharp weapons. But the reality is, there are hundreds of troops, carrying guns and other security support facilities, this means we are in bad condition,” said Gobay.
From these conditions, Gobay and his team have written to the Judicial Commission and the Prosecutor’s Commission to monitor the entire trial. “As a legal counsel, in conditions like this, it also weakens our perspective. The focus is divided, because there are additional facts about legal protection for the people affected by the entire trial process that occurs,” he said. (*)
