VZCZCXRO8077
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1342 2551112
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121112Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9937
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY IMMEDIATE 3214
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS JAKARTA 011342 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FBI PLS PASS TO CTD/ITOS I, CTD/ITOS II, GOU 
SECSTATE FOR EAP/MTS AND DS/DSS, DS/IP/EAP, DS/EAP/ITA, AND 
CA/OCS/ACS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC CASC KJUS ID
SUBJECT: DEFENDANTS WALK OUT AS FBI AGENTS TESTIFY AT 
TIMIKA TRIAL 
 
REF: A. JAKARTA 11145 AMCITS TESTIFY AT TIMIKA TRIAL 
     ¶B. JAKARTA 10704 WITNESS TESTIMONY IN TIMIKA TRIAL 
        TO BEGIN 
     ¶C. JAKARTA 8958 TIMIKA TRIAL OPENS 
 
¶1. (U) The defendants and their attorneys walked out of the 
courtroom in protest as FBI Special Agents Ron Eowan and Paul 
Myers gave testimony at the September 12 session of the trial 
of seven men accused of killing two amcits in Timka, Papua in 
¶2002.  As Eowan was taking the witness stand, defendant Ishak 
Onawame gave a statement claiming that the FBI agents had 
tricked them into discussing the case with them and 
requesting that the judge disallow them from testifying.  The 
statement elicited shouts of support from the other 
defendants and from observers in the courtroom.  Chief Judge 
Nurdin overruled the request and stated that anyone opposed 
to allowing the agents to testify could leave the courtroom. 
In response, the defendants and their attorneys walked out of 
the session, and lead defense attorney Johnson Panjaitan gave 
a press conference outside the room as the witnesses gave 
their testimony.  Johnson stated to the journalists present 
that there was a prior agreement to allow all the victims to 
testify before other witnesses were brought in, and that this 
was the basis for his protest as several Indonesian victims 
had yet to testify. 
 
¶2. (U) During their testimony, Eowan and Myers introduced 
several videos into evidence.  Two of the videos show weapons 
believed to have been used in the attack.  Another shows 
Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) guerrilla leader Kelly Kwalik 
stating that while he did not order the Timika attack, it was 
carried out by men under his command.  A third video was a 
clip from a foreign news program in which defendant Antonius 
Wamang confesses his involvement in the attack to a 
journalist.  Eowan and Myers then went on to describe a 
series of meetings held with the defendants between December 
2003 and March 2004 in which several of the defendants 
confessed their roles in the attack.  According to Eowan, 
Wamang stated that he originally planned an explosive attack 
on the road from Timika to Tembagapura in order to disrupt 
the activities of the Freeport Mining Company, which the 
defendants claimed was displacing Amungme families.  However, 
Wamang told Eowan that he lacked expertise with explosives 
and so decided to stage an attack on the Indonesian military 
forces (TNI) assigned to protect Freeport instead.  According 
to Eowan's testimony, Wamang said that they attacked the 
civilian vehicles by mistake.  Eowan said that Wamang 
confessed to the FBI because he was under pressure from his 
community to make clear that the intended target of the 
attack was the TNI, not civilians, but that he was afraid to 
speak to the Indonesian police.  Since the defense was not 
present in the courtroom, there was no cross-examination of 
witnesses. 
 
¶3. (U) After the testimony of the two agents, the Judge 
adjourned the court until September 15, when ballistics 
expert Brett Mills will testify.  Two Indonesian victims are 
also expected to testify.  Both translators are expected to 
be present at the September 15 session. 
PASCOE