Indonesian police apologise for interrogating Papuan man with snake
11 February, 2019
Indonesian police have admitted that its officers used a live snake to terrorise a Papuan man, after a video of the incident was uploaded online, news agency the Associated Press (AP) reported on Monday (Feb 11).
The video showed the interrogator laughing as the man screamed in fear.
Police revealed that the incident happened recently, during a crackdown on petty crime in Jayawijaya district, according to AP.
The video showed the suspect in handcuffs, with a snake wrapped around his neck and waist. A police officer was seen pushing the snake’s head into the man’s face, who then becomes hysterical.
Officers seemed to have been asking the man how many times he had stolen cellphones.
AP said police in Papua apologised for the incident. However, they also attempted to rationalise the officers’ actions by saying that the snake had not been venomous and that they had not beaten the man, who is a suspected thief.
The officers involved are being investigated for ethical violations, according to The Jakarta Post.
“We have taken action against the officers who did the misconduct. We are moving them to other places,” Jayawijaya Police chief Tonny Ananda Swadaya said, as quoted by the news outlet.
However, the video sparked criticism from netizens.
The interrogation methods employed by the officers were torture, human rights lawyer Victoria Koman was quoted by AP as saying. She shared the video on her Twitter account, saying that the “torture has features of racism”.
The police’s actions were a violation of police policies and several laws, she said.
She added that the video’s circulation forced a “very rare” apology out of the police, though she also criticised their attempt to justify the incident.
The incident was only the latest of many reports of snakes being used by police and military to terrorise Papuan detainees.
In January, Sam Lokon, a member of the West Papua National Committee that advocates for independence from Indonesia, was arrested. He was put in a cell with a snake and beaten, said Koman.