Indonesia jails Polish tourist who met Papuan activists

A Polish tourist sentenced Thursday to five years in prison in Indonesia for treason after meeting with Papuan independence supporters said that he was the victim of a show trial.

Jakub Skrzypski was arrested in Wamena in the easternmost Papua region in August and accused of plotting against the Indonesian state.

He denied any wrongdoing.

One of his lawyers, Latifah Anum Siregar, said Papuan student Simon Magal, who met Skrzypski and communicated with him on Facebook, was sentenced by the same court Thursday to four years in prison.

The case has highlighted Indonesia's sensitivity about the volatile Papua region, where the indigenous Melanesian people oppose Indonesian rule and an insurgency has simmered for decades.

The government restricts foreign journalists from reporting in its Papua and West Papua provinces.

Friends of Skrzypski, who lived in Switzerland, have said he's an avid traveler with a fascination for other cultures who unwittingly got embroiled in Indonesian politics.

Police initially accused him of trying to organize an arms deal but it became clear that Skryzpski, who worked in a factory near Lausanne, did not have means to do that. The arms dealer accusation did not become part of the case against him.

In a handwritten note sent to The Associated Press before the sentencing, Skrzypski said his arrest and prosecution was "a purely political case, a trial staged for propaganda reasons."