A Papuan student, Carly Wilson Takimai, died mysteriously on Monday night just weeks after his Jakarta dormitory was raided by security officials.
On Tuesday, Siprianus Bonai, chairman of the Jakarta Papuan Students Association, said that on Monday afternoon Carly was chatting with two of his roommates inside his dormitory in Tebet, South Jakarta, when he abruptly fell ill and began foaming at the mouth.
Carly was rushed to St. Carolus hospital in Central Jakarta.
“What is surprising to us is that we saw one of the police officers who raided our dorm at the hospital [on Monday],” he said.
Because of the suspicious circumstances, Siprianus said, Carly was taken to Tebet Hospital in South Jakarta instead.
Carly died on the way to Tebet, Siprianus said, but not before his stomach ballooned to twice its normal size.
“We can’t tell for sure if he was poisoned,” he said.
Siprianus said he regretted Carly’s family’s decision not to conduct an autopsy on the body.
“The remains will be taken home [to Papua],” he said. “The body is still at Carolus.”
On Nov. 12, the day of the Third Papua’s People’s Congress, security forces in Jakarta and Bali raided the dormitories of some Papuan students.
About 10 soldiers and police officers searched Carly’s dormitory. Some officers were armed and students there said they did not have a warrant.
Security forces also raided dormitories in Lenteng Agung and Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, and in Denpasar. The officers searched through the students’ belongings but did not say what they were looking for.
The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has condemned the raids, calling them “a form of intimidation and direct terror.”
After the incident, only Carly and his friend Edi Pakage stayed at the Tebet dorm, while other Papuan students moved out.
Siprianus said Carly had a history of gastric acid problems but had not complained about his health for five months.
The Papuan students plan to stage a rally in Jakarta on Thursday, the anniversary of the Free Papua Organization.
“We do suspect this is a way to foil the plan, but we won’t back down,” Siprianus said.