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Police arrest 6 separatists in Papua
While people all over the world commemorated May 1 as a day for workers, residents in Papua celebrated on Wednesday the integration of Papua province into Indonesia
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hile people all over the world commemorated May 1 as a day for workers, residents in Papua celebrated on Wednesday the integration of Papua province into Indonesia.
In Jayapura, residents celebrated the integration of Papua into Indonesia by holding a float parade while introducing national heroes from Papua: Frans Kaisipeo, Marthen Indey, Silas Papare and Elieser Yan Bonai.
The police, however, arrested six people in Ibdi village in Biak regency for commemorating the day as Papua's annexation by Indonesia and raising the Morning Star flag of the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM).
"The six people were arrested because they were flying the banned flag," Papua Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya said in Jayapura.
Some 50 other people were provoking the crowd to secede from Indonesia, he said. Sumerta added that when police were trying to disperse the crowd, they tried to seize firearms from the officers. The police were forced to fire warning shots.
In Sorong, West Papua, one soldier was injured when security officers tried to break up a crowd commemorating the annexation. The crowd refused to disperse and instead attacked security personnel using sharp weapons.
