A witness taking an oath before testifying at an evidentiary hearing for Case No. 304/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Papua gubernatorial election results dispute, Monday (2/17/2025). MKRI/Teguh.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) held an evidentiary hearing for Case No. 304/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on the Papua gubernatorial election results dispute on Monday, February 17, 2025. The Court examined the issue of the certificates of no criminal conviction and non-disenfranchisement submitted by Yermias Bisai to become Papua vice governor candidate 01.

Yermias Bisai and his assistant Herman A. Yomi attended the hearing in person. Bisai acknowledged that the preparation of the documents required for the 2024 gubernatorial election was handled by his personal team and the campaign team.

“All of our registration documents were prepared by the campaign team,” he stated before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2.

When Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra requested him to present his ID card, it was revealed that the card listed his address as Jayapura City. However, the ID card submitted for his gubernatorial election registration to the Papua Provincial Elections Commission (KPU) showed an address in Waropen Regency.

This inconsistency became an issue because the certificates of no criminal conviction and non-disenfranchisement, submitted as part of Bisai’s candidacy requirements, were issued by the Jayapura District Court. According to regulations, such certificates must be issued by the district court corresponding to the candidate’s domicile. In this case, Bisai’s registered domicile during the election registration, as indicated on his ID card, was Waropen Regency.

Additionally, the two certificates, numbered 539/SK/HK/8/2024/PN-JAP and 540/SK/HK/8/2024/PN-JAP, issued by the Jayapura District Court, were found to belong to someone else. Yermias Bisai admitted that he was unaware of this until the Papua KPU and Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) sought clarification regarding the issue on September 20, 2024.

Meanwhile, Herman A. Yomi explained that he had obtained the certificates from the Jayapura District Court due to the greater distance and longer travel time to the Serui District Court in Waropen Regency. He stated that, as he was already in Jayapura City at the time, he opted to secure the certificates there instead.

“The court informed me that Mr. Yermias Bisai’s registered address in their system is Jalan Baliem Number 8,” said Yomi.

Due to time constraints, Yomi went to the address on Jalan Baliem Number 8 to handle the domicile information required for the certificates. However, he was aware that Bisai’s actual residence was in a housing complex in Kotaraja Dalam, not Jalan Baliem.

“I registered with the Jayapura District Court on August 22, 2024, but someone had already registered earlier on August 20 under the name Yermias Bisai, using the address Jalan Baliem Number 8. I did not know who had registered on that date,” said Yomi.

After obtaining the domicile information in Jayapura City, Herman A. Yomi proceeded to process the two certificates at the Jayapura District Court, resulting in the issuance of certificates numbered 539/SK/HK/8/2024/PN-JAP and 540/SK/HK/8/2024/PN-JAP. Subsequently, Yermias Bisai also acquired a new ID card listing his address in Jayapura City.

When the certificates were questioned, Yermias Bisai returned to the Jayapura District Court, where the certificates were reissued with new numbers: 844/SK/HK/09/2024/PN-JAP and 845/SK/HK/09/2024/PN-JAP. These revised certificates were subsequently submitted to the Papua KPU before the official determination of the 2024 Papua gubernatorial election candidate pairs.

The certificates numbered 539/SK/HK/8/2024/PN-JAP and 540/SK/HK/8/2024/PN-JAP issued by the Jayapura District Court were also in the name of Samuel Fritsko Jenggu. On February 10, Jenggu was presented by the Petitioners in the Court, where he testified that he had processed these certificates at the Jayapura District Court to fulfill requirements for his candidacy as a member of the Papuan People’s Representatives’ Council (DPRP).

He only discovered on September 19, 2024 that his certificates numbered 539 and 540 had been claimed by someone else. Feeling aggrieved, he reported the alleged falsification to the Papua Police on October 12, 2024. He also stated that he had been shown Yermias Bisai’s certificates. Although they bore the same numbers, he noted differences, such as the absence of a coordination initial on Yermias Bisai’s certificates and a different placement of the barcode.

However, the barcodes on Jenggu’s certificates could not be accessed when the DPRP selection team attempted to scan them for authenticity. On October 27, 2024, when Jenggu sought confirmation regarding the validity of his certificates, the Jayapura District Court offered to replace them with new numbers.

“I refused and argued because I had never used those certificates. I asked them, ‘‘Can two people use certificates with the same numbers?’ They said no. So, I said, ‘Okay, then my certificates are genuine, right? Please confirm their validity through an official letter from the court,’” Jenggu explained.

The Petitioners also suspected that Yermias Bisai had falsely claimed someone else’s address at Jalan Baliem Number 8, Manda Village, North Jayapura District, Jayapura City, Papua, as his domicile. This suspicion arose from a certificate issued by the village head. However, Filep Mayor, the head of Neighborhood Unit (RT) 03 and a resident of Jalan Baliem Number 5, refuted this claim. He explained that the address in question belongs to his late parent, Hans Mayor, and is currently occupied by his younger brother, Yakob Mayor.

“I have raised my protest with the village head,” he said.

Also read:

Alleged Ineligible Candidates, Identity Politics in Papua Gubernatorial Election

Papua KPU: Yermias Bisai Cleared to Run as Vice Governor Candidate

Elected Papua Vice Governor Presented Another Candidate’s Non-Conviction Certificate

At the previous hearing, the Papua KPU sought clarifications from the chief judge of the Jayapura District Court on September 20, 2024. At the meeting, the chief judge also reported to have issued Certificates No. 844 and 845 dated September 19, 2024, asserting Bisai’ non-conviction and right to vote. Thus, Bisai had fulfilled the requirements in the registration phase before the candidate pair certification on September 22, 2024.

The Papua Provincial KPU certified 269,970 votes for Candidate Pair Number 1 Benhur Tomy Mano-Yermias Bisai and 262,777 votes for Candidate Pair Number 2 Matius D Fakhiri-Aryoko F. Rumaropen. The Petitioners requested the Court to annul the certification of the votes for Candidate Pair Number 1 as stated in the Papua KPU Decree Number 250 of 2024; to disqualify Candidate Pair Number 1; and to certify the correct vote acquisition as follows: Candidate Pair Number 1 with zero votes and Candidate Pair Number 2 with 262,777 votes; and to declare Candidate Pair Number 2 as the elected candidates.

Author              : Mimi Kartika
Editor                : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                    : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator         : Nazila Rikhusshuba/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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