The Commander-in-Chief of the Indonesian National Defence Forces (TNI), Andika Perkasa, has revelead that the number of officers involved in the killing and mutilation of four indigenous Papuans has increased to eight.




Perkasa said that the soldier belonged to the Indonesian Army, 20th Para Rider Infantry Brigade Unit, 3rd Division of Kostrad.
The General also clarified that, of the six members of the Indonesian Army who have been named suspects, there are also two other members who are currently being investigated.

"We investigated two more people, so a total of eight members of the Indonesian Army were involved," said the General on August 31.

President Joko Widodo has also given an investigation order.

General Andika ensured that the eight members of the Indonesian Army would be punished according to the applicable laws and statutory procedures, where the maximum penalty being death, life imprisonment or 20 years in prison.

TNI Commander General Andika Perkasa confirmed that the number of TNI members involved in the mutilation case of four civilians in Mimika Regency, Papua, had increased to eight people.

According to General Andika, the TNI soldiers involved in the premeditated murder and mutilation of the four civilians were from the Indonesian Army, 20th Para Rider Infantry Brigade Unit, 3rd Division of Kostrad.

"For the incident that has occurred, from the results of our investigation, it is proven that it was carried out by six members of the Army, especially from the 20th Rider Infantry Brigade, 3rd Division of Kostrad," said General Andika Perkasa.

According to General Andika, of the six members of the Indonesian Army who have been named suspects, there are also two other members who are currently being investigated for allegedly enjoying the proceeds from the crimes of six of their colleagues.

"From the results of our investigation, we investigated two more people. Both of them enjoyed the proceeds of the crime, so a total of eight members of the Indonesian Army were involved," said Andika in Mimika, Wednesday (31/8/2022) night.

The process of examining eight members of the TNI who are strongly suspected of being involved in the mutilation case continues. Moreover, President Joko Widodo has given an investigation order.

Andika also confirmed that the six TNI members who had been detained were now suspects.

"So there are a total of eight people, six are already suspects, while two people are still being investigated for receiving the stolen money," he said.

According to Andika, of the eight members of the TNI involved, one has the rank of Major, one has the rank of Captain and six others have the rank of enlisted.

“Of the members involved, one person is a mid-ranking officer with the initials HFD who serves as a temporary Deputy Commander of the 20th Infantry Brigade Headquarters Detachment for Riders of the 3rd Kostrad Division. Then there was one first officer with the rank of Captain, initials DK, and four enlisted men. Two additional members of the TNI also hold the rank of enlisted,” explained General Andika.

General Andika ensured that the eight members of the Indonesian Army would be punished according to the applicable laws and statutory procedures, where the maximum penalty is death, life imprisonment or 20 years in prison.

Previously, three bodies of mutilated victims were found in the Kampung Pigapu River area, Iwaka District, Mimika Regency, Papua. The bodies were found on different days, namely Friday (26/8/2022) and Saturday (27/8/2022). Meanwhile, one body was found on Monday (29/8/2022) night. On Thursday (1/9/2022) another body was found by the Basarnas Team.

The temporary motive, according to the Papuan Police's records, was the manipulation of the sale and purchase of firearms carried out to the victims, where according to the local police, one of the four victims was a sympathizer of the Armed Criminal Separatist Group.

According to the police, the case began when the perpetrators pretended to want to sell two firearms. The victim, who was interested in buying it, then came with Rp. 250 million in cash.

But the perpetrators then killed and mutilated the victim, and took the hundreds of millions of money away.

The eight members of the TNI Army involved are currently being held at the local Military Police Detachment military detention house.
In addition, the local police have also detained three civilians who have become suspects. And one other civilian is fugitive.

President Joko Widodo also paid attention to the disclosure of the mutilation case of four residents in Mimika Regency, Papua. The President has ordered the TNI Commander General Andika Perkasa to help investigate the case thoroughly so that people's trust in the TNI does not fade. "I ordered the TNI Commander to assist in the legal process," he said in Jayapura, Wednesday (31/8/2022).