His passing was confirmed by the head of the hospital, Lieutenant General Dr. Albertus Budi Sulistya. He told ANTARA that Enembe died at 10:45 a.m. local time.
One of Enembe’s attorneys, Antonius Eko Nugroho, informed that the ex-governor’s body would be flown to Jayapura city, Papua province, on Wednesday evening for the funeral.
“His body is expected to arrive in Jayapura on Thursday (December 28) morning. He will be brought straight to his house in Koya,” Nugroho told ANTARA via a short message in Jakarta.
Education and career
Enembe was a native of Papua region. He was born in Tolikara district of the province on July 27, 1967, to Tagolenggawak Enembe and Deyaknobukwe Enumbi.
According to information provided on the website of the Papua provincial government, Enembe attended a Christian elementary school in Tolikara and graduated in 1980 before continuing his studies at Public Junior High School 1 Sentani and Public Senior High School 3 Sentani in Jayapura district.
After completing school, Enembe decided to migrate to North Sulawesi’s capital, Manado, to pursue higher education. He passed out of the Social and Political Science Strategy Department of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) at Sam Ratulangi University in 1995.
During his college years, Enembe was an active member of several student organizations. He once served in the Student Senate of FISIP and as chair of North Sulawesi's Jayawijaya (Papua) Student Organization during the 1989–1992 period.
Following his graduation, he began his government career as an employee at the Social and Political Affairs Office of Merauke district in 1996. The following year, he was officially appointed as a civil servant at the office.
In 1998, he moved to Australia to continue his studies at Cornerstone College. After finishing his studies in three years, he returned to Indonesia to start his political career.
At the dawn of his political journey, Enembe served as an adviser to several political parties in the Central Highlands region, which is currently part of Highland Papua and Central Papua provinces.
His career rocketed after he managed to secure the post of deputy head of Puncak Jaya district, Central Papua province, for the 2001–2006 term, accompanying Elieser Renmaur. He rose to the top leadership position in the district over the next five years.
Enembe reached the peak of his political career when he was elected as the governor of Papua in 2013. He held the mantle for two terms, serving until early 2023.
Corruption and death
From late 2022, Enembe started making headlines on local and national mass media over his alleged involvement in bribery and gratification cases linked to a number of infrastructure projects in Papua province.
On January 10 this year, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested him in Jayapura city. He was flown to Jakarta via Manado shortly thereafter. The following day, the KPK announced Enembe’s detention.
His health continued to deteriorate while undergoing a series of trials in Jakarta. One day after the arrest, the KPK confirmed that the former governor required vital medical examination and treatments at the army hospital.
Enembe’s detention was occasionally interrupted by treatments at the hospital. During trials at the Corruption Court of Central Jakarta, he was seen using a wheelchair.
In view of Enembe’s health, the panel of judges once sought a second opinion from the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI). Based on examinations conducted by IDI, he was declared fit to undergo trials.
However, the association informed that Enembe had a history of non-hemorrhagic stroke with sequelae, diabetes mellitus type two, hypertension, coronary heart disease without signs of heart failure, and a chronic kidney problem.
On October 19, the Corruption Court of Central Jakarta sentenced Enembe to eight years in prison and awarded him a fine of Rp500 million (US$32.3 thousand), or an additional sentence of four months behind bars as a subsidiary penalty.
He was also directed to pay about Rp19.7 billion (US$1.2 million) in compensation, or face a subsidiary penalty of two years in prison. The court’s verdict also deprived Enembe of his right to get elected to public positions for five years after serving his primary sentence.
However, in the next trial on December 7, the Jakarta Court of Appeal decided to increase Enembe's sentence to 10 years in prison, a fine of Rp1 billion (US$64.7 billion), and asked him to pay compensation of Rp47.8 billion (approximately US$3 million).
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Translator: Fath P, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
