JUBILEE CAMPAIGN United Kingdom

For immediate release April 9th, 2003

Christian leader on trial without evidence

The prosecution has still have failed to produce a single credible witness in its seventh session in the case of Rev. Rinaldy Damanik, the persecuted leader of the Protestant Christian community in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Rev. Damanik has been framed by the Indonesian authorities on illegal possession of weapons charges. Last week the prosecution called its seventh witness, Sergeant Hasan, a military leader. Of thirty-two scheduled witnesses, the prosecution has now called five policemen and two members of the military.

Incredibly, the prosecution has yet to produce a witness who can physically connect Damanik to the car that was searched and the alleged weapons that were removed. Instead, most witnesses so far have claimed merely that they saw the weapons from 50 meters.

From the outset, Damanik’s case has been characterised by this lack of evidence. In meetings with the defence team, lead attorney Johnson Panjaitan said that, but for the statements of one particular witness, the trial would not have gone forward. To date, the defence team has not been given access to this witness; and there are allegations that his testimony was acquired under duress and torture. Even now this witness is being kept in police custody.

The international community is watching to see how Damanik’s case is handled. This case is also being compared to that of Jafar Umar Thalib, the leader of Laskar Jihad. Jafar was arrested when his provocative speech in a mosque in Ambon stirred up Muslim mobs to anger, which was a clear, direct violation of the Maluku Malino agreement. Yet, while this was a very public and very real violation of the law, Jafar has been acquitted in court in Jakarta. In contrast, Damanik’s case continues despite the presence of uncontested evidentiary irregularities and a parade of non-credible witnesses.

Ann Buwalda, Jubilee Campaign US Director, said “People in Central Sulawesi, both Muslim and Christian, are beginning to understand the conflict with increasing clarity. They now realise that the conflict is not just about religion; it is larger than that. And they know that they all have been victimised. The conflict, according to the people in Central Sulawesi, is about political, economic, and military interests in the region. However, the conflict itself and its aftermath have spun out of control of even the original instigators, because the region has been infiltrated by international terrorist elements. These external elements, including some invited by the Indonesian elite themselves, have betrayed and destroyed a strong cultural value of the people of Central Sulawesi.”

Damanik’s case is viewed by the people of Central Sulawesi and the international community as an attempt to scapegoat a dedicated and vocal humanitarian worker. It is anticipated that if Damanik is found guilty, not only will the refugees lose complete confidence in the government, it will send a very strong and clear message to the citizens of Indonesia that the elite power brokers in the country can do anything they wish to victimise the lower members of society.

In a letter to his daughter Rev. Damanik demonstrated that he understands the severity of the difficulty he still has to face. In his strong belief about justice, truth, and grace, he penned these words in a poem to his only daughter, Nanda, during his police detention in Jakarta: “If you ask me where I am, I will tell you: ‘I am making a journey through the darkest of the night, so that I could embrace the morning sunlight, without feeling betrayed by anyone, and without sacrificing others.’ My child, please allow me to be a ‘sacrifice’ … Immanuel!”

ENDS

For more information, please contact Mark Rowland T 01483 894 787 F 01483 894 797 Jubilee Campaign is an interdenominational Christian human rights organisation which has worked with over 150 British Parliamentarians in campaigning on human rights issues all over the world.

An unofficial transcript of the March 31, 2003 court session is available on http://www.jubilecampaign.org

Mark Rowland Assistant Director Jubilee Action

T +44 01483 894 787 F +44 01483 894 797

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