22 Apr 2003

Papua Presidium angry at light sentences for Eluay killing

4:34 pm on 22 April 2003

The Papuan Presidium Council will meet this week to discuss the jail sentences for four of the seven Indonesian elite force soldiers who killed the Papuan leader, Theys Eluay in 2001.

Council member, Franz Albert Joku says Papuan leaders are angry about the sentences which range from 24 to 42 months and have called the military trial a farce.

He says the council members will discuss the legal process used to try the Kopassus soldiers and whether further action can be taken to protest the sentences.

A military court sentenced Lieutenant-Colonel Hartomo, the highest ranking soldier on trial, to three-and-a-half years in jail.

Three more are still to be sentenced.

The Papuan Presidium Council is made up of traditional or tribal leaders and is the political arm of the pro-independence movement.