Papuan students to hold rally during Obama’s visit

JAKARTA: Hundreds of Papuan students in Jakarta plan to stage a rally on Tuesday, when US President Barack Obama was scheduled to arrive in Jakarta.

The chairman of the Papuan Students Alliance, Rinto Kogoya, said the rally was aimed to
attract Obama’s attention to Papua’s problems, including human rights violations and environmental damage.

Rinto said the US played a role in Papua’s “annexation” to Indonesia by throwing their support to Jakarta while US-based gold mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia is accused of being responsible for environmental damage. — JP