Source: Tapol

Andinus Karoba was born on 18 March 1990. He is a Protestant. He has not yet completed his lower school education. He lives in North Jayapura and describes himself as a Papuan activist.

On 10 October 2012 at around 6pm, he went out for a stroll and walked past the Paulus GKI church. He was sitting near a stall and was chewing nuts when an avanza vehicle stopped beside him. A police intel officer from Polresta Jayapura got out, grabbed hold of his shirt and asked him whether his name was Andinus Karoba. He said, yes that’s my name and without saying anything more the police officer forced him into a Polresta truck with his hands and legs in handcuffs. While they were driving to Polresta, Andinus was shot three times, twice in his leg, on his thigh and calf, and once in the groin.

During the two months that he was held at Polresta Jayapura, he was never able to get the medical treatment he needed and he was in constant pain. The police refused to allow his family to visit him.

He says that although his arrest was not about whether he had stolen anything or had attacked anyone’s home, stealing was the excuse used by the police for his arrest. He had been a target for a long time because he said that his whole family took part in a mass evacuation from Wamena to Papua New Guinea following a series of brutal killings by the Indonesian military. Subsequently, he goes on:

I went back and forth from West Papua to Papua New Guinea while my parents were accused of being members of the OPM. I was also under suspicion.

At the place where I stayed on the street, near the Bahari Valley Dok V above the district of North Jayapura, there were people who were always spying on me wherever I went. I know who it was. It was someone who had been set up by the police, but I wasn’t bothered about this because I had done nothing against the security forces of any unit.

However, on 10 October 2012, as I was sitting eating nuts, someone came and sat beside me and quietly made contact with the police. Soon afterwards, the police came and arrested me.

They took me to Polresta Jayapura where I was interrogated not about any thefts but about the struggle of the Papuan people and all its networks. I repeatedly said that I knew nothing, that I was just a kid and didn’t know anything about that struggle. The interrogator got very agitated because there was no evidence. And because I had been shot and paralysed, the police decided to make charges against me under the criminal code and for theft. There was not an iota of truth in all this. But I was unable to do anything because I did not have a lawyer. All this went on until I was found guilty and sentenced to one year and ten months.

Throughout the trial, I was held at Polresta Jayapura. After being sentenced, I was handed over to the Class IIA Prison Abepura. I am now serving the sentence.