Indonesian authorities apologize for using snake to interrogate man suspected of stealing phones
Authorities in Indonesia have apologized after a video of some of their officers using a live snake to interrogate a man went viral on social media. The footage shows the man screaming in fright as his interrogators can be heard laughing and repeatedly pushing the snake's head onto the man's face.
The authorities in the easternmost Papua region of the country apologized but tried to justify the officers' actions by saying the snake was not a venomous species and that they did not beat the man.
Veronica Koman, a human rights lawyer in Papua, claimed that Sam Lokon, a member of the West Papua National Committee - an organization that advocates for independence from Indonesia - was put into a cell with a snake and also repeatedly beaten after being arrested.
Authorities said that Lokon was arrested after a crackdown on petty crime in the Jayawijaya district, and he was arrested for stealing moble phones.