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Five military personnel caught selling ammunition in Papua
The Military Region XVII/Cendrawasih Military Police (Pomdam) is investigating five members of the Cendrawasih military district command in Jayapura, Papua, who were allegedly selling ammunition to armed civilian groups in the province
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he Military Region XVII/Cendrawasih Military Police (Pomdam) is investigating five members of the Cendrawasih military district command in Jayapura, Papua, who were allegedly selling ammunition to armed civilian groups in the province.
'The five Indonesian Military personnel being investigated are from the military district command's Ajendam division. Two out of the five persons are proven to have been involved in the ammunition-selling, while the three others are still being investigated,' said Cendrawasih military district command chief Maj. Gen. Fransen G. Siahaan in Jayapura on Thursday.
'I consider the five military personnel to be state traitors. They are 'fish bones' in the flesh because they have become enemies from inside this military command. They gave ammunition to armed civilian groups that was used to shoot and kill Indonesian Military and National Police members, as well as civilians,' he added.
Fransen said the Cendrawasih military district command was continuing to increase monitoring activities both inside and outside the institution after arresting three military personnel in Wamena last year. The military personnel were arrested for having been involved in ammunition-selling to the Puron Wenda group, which led armed civilian groups controlling the Pegunungan Tengah area in Papua.
'From further internal investigations, we found these five traitors. I never expected that the traitors would come from our own division,' Fransen said.
'Based on our commander's order, any soldier involved in ammunition-selling must be punished as severely as possible. They deserve to be sentenced to death or to face a life sentence and be dismissed from the Indonesian Military,' he went on.
The five military personnel are First Sgt. NHS, 25; First Pvt. S, 27; First Pvt. RA, 29; Maj. Sgt. S, 39 and First Sgt. MM, 46.
A joint Indonesian Military and National Police team arrested two of the five individuals while they were carrying out a transaction with three members of an armed civilian group at the Papua Trade Center in Jayapura on Wednesday. The remaining three soldiers were thought to be involved in collecting the ammunition.
Fransen said an investigation was ongoing to find out whether the ammunition came from the Ajendam division or from other units. (ebf)(+++)
