Papuans go on trial over Freeport violence

A trial of 16 Papuans accused of stoking deadly violence during demonstrations against US mining giant Freeport began Wednesday in the Papuan capital of Jayapura, the defendants' lawyer said as quoted by AFP.

"The charges include property destruction, fighting members of the security forces and creating disturbances that led to death," Paskalis Letsoin, from the Jayapura Legal Aid Association, told AFP by telephone.

He said the defendants, most of whom are students, face up to 15 years in jail.

Hundreds of protestors demanding the closure of a gold mine operated by a subsidiary of US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan clashed with security forces on March 16. Five security officers and a civilian were killed.

The clash followed weeks of protests over the world's largest gold and copper mine, which is one of the Indonesian government's top sources of revenue.

Critics accuse Freeport-McMoRan of not giving enough to the people of Papua in return for the mine and allege it causes pollution and is responsible for human rights abuses because of the military's protection of the site.

At the time the violence fanned fears of further unrest in the isolated province, some 3,000 kilometres (1,800 miles) from Jakarta, where Indonesia has grappled with a sporadic separatist conflict for decades.(*)