TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Metro Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono refuted sayings that police officers committed violence while arresting several Papuan students in their dormitory in Pondok Cina, Depok. Argo said that the operation followed the standard operating procedures (SOP).

“There is no act of beating at all,” said Argo in Jakarta Police Headquarters, Sunday, September 1.

According to Argo, eight students were arrested for alleged treason after they raised Bintang Kejora or morning star flag during a demonstration in front of Merdeka Palace on Wednesday, August 28. They are charged with Article 106 and Article 110 of the Criminal Code (KUHP). “They are suspects,” he said.

The advocacy head of Jakarta Legal Aid (LBH Jakarta), Nelson Simamora, condemned the arrest. According to him, two of the students were arrested and examined on early Saturday, August 31, without lawyer assistance. He claimed to have been hindered by the police to assist them.

“We have said that we LBH would like to assist. But we were not allowed to enter [the police’s] car,” said Nelson in Jakarta Police HQ on early hours of Saturday, August 31. “The police said they could be assisted tomorrow, and now they were being investigated.”

According to him, someone who is arrested has the right to meet his relatives or families. This is also stipulated in the Criminal Code, even though they are charged with alleged treason because of raising Bintang Kejora flag.

ADE RIDWAN| HALIDA BUNGA | M YUSUF