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AYAPURA: West Papua National Committee (KNPB) chairman Agus Kossay and two other Papuans, Bano Kalaka and Nodi Hilka, were interrogated on Friday in connection with the arrival of French journalist Marie Dhumieres in Papua on Oct. 1.

'€œThis morning, I was summoned by the Associated Mission Aviation [AMA]. I arrived at the AMA office at 9 a.m.,'€ Agus told tempo.co after his interrogation. He said that they were interrogated by officials from the Papua Immigration Office and an unidentified security institution.

According to Agus, they were questioned for 30 minutes about Dhumieres'€™ activities while covering the inauguration of the executive board of the KNPB'€™s Bintang chapter in Okhika, Papua, on Oct. 1.

He said that the French journalist had come to Papua after she had been informed that President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo had allowed foreign journalists to enter to carry out their work.

'€œThe journalist came to Papua on her own initiative. We did not invite her. The journalist left Okhika on Oct. 2., and went home,'€ Agus added.

Dhumieres arrived in Okhika on Oct. 1 on board the same AMA plane as the KNPB'€™s leader, Victor Yeimo, and Agus Kossay. The pair were traveling to Okhika to inaugurate the executive board of the Bintang chapter of the KNPB, an organization considered by many to be a supporter of the Papuan separatist movement.

In a press release received by tempo.co, KNPB spokesman Bazoka Logo suspected that AMA'€™s management was under scrutiny for allowing the French journalist and the KNPB leaders to fly to Papua.