He said Karma, the 51-year-old former civil servant suffering from a prostate gland condition, had permission to go to a hospital for medical treatment — it was just a matter of timing.
"We haven't violated his rights in any way," he said. "He has food, water, a room, and the right to go to a hospital, so there's no problem."
But Karma, who is one of the country's best-known political prisoners, had a different story.
He led hundreds of students through the streets of Abepura in 2004 chanting "freedom" before joining a ceremony to raise the Morning Star flag, a symbol of the banned Free Papua Movement. When authorities tried to break up the demonstration, clashes broke out between protesters and police.
The father of two teenaged daughters was arrested immediately and sentenced in 2005 to 15 years in prison for treason.
Karma told The AP by mobile phone from his cell in Abepura prison he started complaining to friends about his prostate gland ailment in August 2009, but medics at the prison clinic said he just needed to drink more water and rest. Since then, he has been examined by doctors from Jakarta and elsewhere, who have repeatedly warned he needed surgery.
"My understanding is that if he doesn't get the medical treatment he needs, basically his various organs are not going to function," said Robertson.
"I'm still waiting," Karma added. "I badly need treatment. They don't have the equipment they need here."
Karma also described brutal attacks by guards on others jailed for taking part in anti-government rallies, the worst of which left his friend, Ferdinand Pakage, blind in the right eye. Pakage is serving 15 years for killing a government official during a protest, a crime he says he didn't commit.
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