12 Apr 2019

Prosecutors demand 10 years' jail for Polish man linked to Papua arms deal

2:44 pm on 12 April 2019

Indonesian prosecutors have demanded 10 years' jail for a Polish man over his alleged links to Papuan independence fighters.

West Papuans demonstrate in Wamena, 10 December 2016

West Papuans demonstrate in Wamena, 10 December 2016 Photo: Islami/Jubi

Jakub Skrzypski was charged in August on suspicion of arranging an arms deal with the West Papua Liberation Army.

Prosecutors claimed the Pole was arranging an arms deal for the Liberation Army, while he has maintained he was merely a tourist, a view backed by rights groups.

Jakub Skrzypski's lawyer, Latifah Anum Siregar, told the Jakarta Post on Thursday prosecutors demanded he get a decade in prison.

They also want the same sentence for Mr Skrzypski's, co-defendant, West Papuan student Simon Carlos Magal who was arrested in September.

The defendants will read their defence on Monday.

The AFP news agency reported that neither of the defendants on Thursday had a lawyer present in the court in the town of Wamena, in Papua's Jayawijaya regency.

Jakub Skrzypski, a 39-year Polish citizen visiting Papua as a tourist, was arrested in Wamena in late August on suspicion of being a journalist.

Jakub Skrzypski, a 39-year Polish citizen visiting Papua as a tourist, was arrested in Wamena in late August on suspicion of being a journalist. Photo: Facebook

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