O

strong>Oct. 19, Online

Hundreds of people were arrested in Abepura, Jayapura, in Papua on Wednesday afternoon, for allegedly planning a coup during the third Papuan People Congress.

Among the detainees were an activist from the Secretariat of Justice and Peace of the Catholic Church named Neles, Papua Tribal Council head Forkorus Yeboisembut and prominent Papuan figure Edison Waromi. They were detained at the Papua police headquarters in Jayapura.

“We will interrogate them. If we find evidence that they were involved in planning a coup, we will continue to detain them. If not, they will be released,” Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said on Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The third Papuan People congress was held from Oct. 17 to 19 in Jayapura. It produced controversial
decisions including a measure to look into the unification of Papua with Indonesia.

The congress ended in chaos after police entered the congress venue at Zakeus Field, Padang Bulan, Abepura, by force. The congress participants ran away to avoid the police, although some fell to the ground and others were beaten. Police also reportedly fired warning shots. No casualties have been reported so far.

Your comments:

I remembered Permesta in Sulawesi, formerly the Celebes. They had reason to rebel because of unfair profit sharing between the region and Jakarta.

Maybe this is what is happening in Papua. This wealthy region still lacks education.

Victor
Surabaya

Once again, we see that the reformation was just a myth, from not allowing a Greenpeace official into the country, to using this suppressive approach in Papua that we actually learned from the split of East Timor.

Dewi
Pontianak

Accusing opponents of “plotting a coup” is an old recipe of dictatorships. Since the Romans, dictators have jailed and exterminated opponents. By fear they seize power.

The fact that the Indonesian government does not leave a single bit of democratic space to the West Papuans and sends troops to wreak havoc at peaceful gatherings is proof that Indonesia is a military dictatorship.

The fact that West Papuan politicians, activists, priests and respected figures are under continuous surveillance adds to this.

It is clear that far from winning the hearts of the people, the Indonesian authorities are now showing the world just how scared they are by the political situation in West Papua.

Filippo Giancarlo
Jimbaran, Bali

Is this a democracy or a military dictatorship?

Minke
Yogyakarta