West Papua No. 1 News Portal | Jubi
Nabire, Jubi – One of the leaders of West Papua National Committee (KNPB), a prominent self-determination group in West Papua, was sentenced on Feb. 9 to six years in jail by Sorong District Court after the court found him guilty of manslaughter.
The court said Adam Sorry, the head of KNPB in Maybrat Regency in West Papua province, committed violent acts that led to the death of Frins Sewa. The incident happened in Kampung Sori, Aifat District, Maybrat, on June 13, 2020.
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The sentence was lower than the prosecutor team’s demand of 11 years.
The prosecutor team said Sorry, together with other people, committed violence to someone, and he violated article 170 clause 3 in the Criminal Code.
Sorry’s lawyer, Leonardo Homers, from Kaki Abu Legal Aid Institute in Sorong, said that the Tuesday hearing was supposedly only to listen to Sorry’s defense. Homers said he expected the court to listen to the defense and then adjourned the trial to the next hearings. “But that’s not what happened. Only seconds after they heard the defense, they opened the hearing again and delivered the sentence. Clearly, the verdict was prepared without taking into account the defense we presented,” he told Jubi.
Homers said the judges dismissed some facts presented by the witnesses. One example was one witness said they saw Sorry cut the victim using his left hand, Homers said. Another witness said Sorry was right-handed. “The machete presented in the court was without the proof that Sorry’s fingerprints were there,” Homers said.
He said the legal team would appeal the sentence.
Reporter: Hengky Yeimo
Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
