21 Feb 2015

Convicted Papuan police man recaptured

4:56 pm on 21 February 2015

Police in the Indonesia province of Papua have forcibly detained a former policeman who had been jailed on money-laundering charges.

Labora Sitorus was recaptured on Friday morning.

The Jakarta Post reports he had been serving a 15 year prison term for graft and money laundering, but got leave for medical reasons and then refused to return.

It was reported recently that Sitorus was living in his house in Sorong, in a residential complex owned by Rotua, the timber company at the center of his illegal-logging case.

Staff from the timber company were guarding the complex, and had previously prevented local police from re-arresting him.

Two years ago Sitorus, then a low-ranking officer in a remote part of West Papua, was found to have laundered millions of dollars, apparently obtained through illegal logging and fuel hoarding.