Jakob Skrzypski is a Polish national who was arrested in Papua province in August 2018. He was accused of treason after allegedly making contacts with West Papuan activists there. A Papuan student, Simon Magal who met Skrzypski and contacted him on Facebook was also arrested and charged with treason. On 23 August 2018 prior to his arrest, Mr Skrzypski was visiting Wamena when the police stopped and checked his car. Given that Mr Skrzypski was not holding a permit, he was required to report to the police station. Mr Skrzypski returned to his hotel and was arrested the following day with accusation of treason. Mr Skrzypski’s arrest and ongoing detention are arbitrary because they were and are founded solely on the basis of Mr Skrzypski having exercised his internationally protected rights to freedom of expression — including to obtain information — by visiting activists to learn about the history of West Papua.
On 14 January 2019 Mr Skrzypsky, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. His lawyers appealed the sentencing to the Indonesian Supreme Court to overturn the result however the appeal was rejected. In return Jakob Skrzypski’s sentence was upgraded to 7 years in prison. He is currently serving his sentence in Wamena Prison. He is the only foreigner so far to have been sentenced to jail with treason in relation to West Papua.
