Police chief defends violent crackdown on Papua congress

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo has spoken in defense of his subordinates' violent handling of the recent Papuan congress that claimed the lives of six participants and injured dozens of others who were shot at and beaten.

“The local police acted properly when handling the Papuan congress that aimed to gain independence from Indonesia,” Timur said Monday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The comment was made in response to findings announced Friday by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which said police had committed serious violations of human rights in their handling of the participants in the Third Papuan Peoples Congress.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Sutarman said police welcomed all reports filed in response to the congress incident, adding that police intended to conduct an internal investigation to crosscheck the facts.

“We wont cover up anything,” he said.