http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/07/papua-rogue-cop-says-he-innocent.html
Labora Sitorus, the low-ranking police officer in West Papua who was sentenced to 15 years in prison but who is currently at liberty, is maintaining his innocence and claims he is a pawn in a bigger game.
In an interview that he gave to media outlets, including to a number of national news channels, Labora said the reason he left prison was that he did not want to take the fall for high-ranking police officers in Jakarta and in Papua, who should have taken responsibility for the graft case in which he was implicated.
“To this day, I don’t accept the ruling made by the Supreme Court, because I was the sacrificial lamb in the game played by high-ranking officers in the National Police headquarters and the Papua Police,” Labora said.
Labora also insisted that he did not run away from prison as he had been officially released by the Sorong Penitentiary because his detention period had expired.
“It was the penitentiary that made the decision. My detention period expired and the prosecutor’s office has not issued a letter to extend my detention,” he said.
Labora was found guilty of illegal logging, fuel smuggling and money laundering. Suspicions of corruption were first noted by the police’s internal affairs following the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre’s (PPATK) findings in May 2013 that Labora, despite his relatively junior position, had amassed around Rp 1 trillion (US$79 million) in his bank account.
During an appeal hearing in September 2014, the Supreme Court sentenced him to 15 years’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay a Rp 5 billion fine. Prosecutors had appealed to the Supreme Court after the Sorong District Court had sentenced Labora to only two years’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay Rp 500 million in fines.
Based on a letter dated Aug. 24, 2014 from Sorong Penitentiary warden Isak Wanggai, Labora was released from detention. Wanggai said in the letter that there was no longer any legal basis for the penitentiary to detain him.
Attorney General HM Prasetyo had instructed prosecutors in West Papua to send Labora back to prison so that justice could be served, said a local prosecutor.
West Papua Prosecutor’s Office head Herman Da Silva said the attorney general was adamant about the Labora case.
“The attorney general has instructed us to immediately return Labora to prison to serve his 15-year jail sentence,” he said.
Herman said local prosecutors continued to urge Labora to accept the Supreme Court’s verdict.
Labora walked free after he was granted permission to seek medical treatment in March 2014.
He has warned of a bloody clash if prosecutors seek police or military assistance to force him to serve his sentence, as around 1,000 youths are maintaining security at his plywood factory, PT Rotua, which is located in Sorong, where he has been living.