Komnas HAM Slams Police's Suspect Naming of Human Rights Lawyer
Translator
Ricky Mohammad Nugraha
Editor
Laila Afifa
Rabu, 4 September 2019 19:28 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Commissioner of Komnas HAM (National Commission for Human Rights) Beka Ulung Hapsara criticized the East Java Police’s suspect-naming of human rights lawyer Veronica Koman in the Papuan dormitory incident.
“This is an attempt to criminalize [Veronica],” said Beka Ulung to Tempo on Wednesday, September 4.
Police deemed Veronica, who accompanied the Papuan students in Surabaya, had spread lies and provocative information across social media.
However, Beka pressed that police must be careful prior to legally processing a person in an incident. “As far as I know, what Veronica Koman had done in the Surabaya incident is her attempt to provide the necessary information from a different point of view, for the fact that there was indeed racist slurs in the incident,” he said.
The Komnas HAM commissioner fears that police’s response to the Papua incident will hamper Indonesia’s chances to nominate the country as a member of the United Nation’s 2020-2022 Human Rights Committee.
The East Java police had named Veronica Koman as a suspect today on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, which was announced by police Chief Insp. Gen. Luki Hermawan in a press conference.
