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Filep Karma's medical treatment obstructed by financial and administrative problems |
Bintang Papua, 9 February 2010
Abridged in translation by TAPOL
Filep Karma medical treatment obstructed by financial problems
Filep Karma, a political prisoner who is serving a fifteen-year sentence
in Abepura for flying a flag several years ago has been suffering from a
urinary tract or prostate infection fpr some time but is still unable to
obtain the necessary permission to seek medical treatment outside Papua
because of financial and administrative problems.
An official of the Papua regional law and human rights office said
that he would look into the matter; the prisoner is at present a patient
in Dok II Hospital, Jayapura.
A specialist surgeon handling the case, Donald Arongear, said he was in
the process of planning the patient's departure, with the help of the
hospital and the chief of the financial division of the province of
Papua. Filep Karma himself believes that the authorities are washing
their hands of the matter and are expecting him to make all the
necessary arrangements himself. Resolving the financial problems will
mean his also finding the money to pay for two escorts. If the costs of
the two escorts as well as the costs of the medial treatment were borne
by the prison, the matter would be easier to resolve.
The head of the Abepura Prison, Anthonius Ayorbaba, told Bintang Papua
that he was monitoring the prisoner's problems. He said they were
waiting for information from Karma's family about how far they had
proceeded in arranging for the prisoner's departure for treatment
outside Papua. He said that, as yet, the family had not submitted a
request for the prisoner to get treatment outside Papua. 'It is up to
them to approach the prison authorities with a request for treatment
elsewhere.'
He explained that the prison does not have contingency funds for a
prisoner to be treated elsewhere. All they can provide for is the
generic medication but they cannot help with more specialist medication.
He said that if the regional government is able to help Filep Karma get
treatment outside Papua, all well and good. 'It's up to the prisoner's
family to make contact with the prison authorities,' he said. Once this
has been done, the prison authorities will write to the provincial
government and start to make the necessary administrative arrangements.
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