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View all search resultsIndonesia points finger at ‘foreign parties'
The government has particularly laid blame on Papuan separatist figure Benny Wenda.
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Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) members stage a protest in front of Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta on Aug. 28,. 2019. They demanded that the government restore internet services in restive Papua and West Papua provinces and hold a referendum on Papuan independence. (JP/Donny Fernando)
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n response to calls for a self-determination referendum on top of ongoing unrest in Papua and West Papua, the government is blaming “foreign parties” for being behind the protests and rioting in the country’s easternmost provinces.
The government has particularly laid blame on Papuan separatist figure Benny Wenda. Wenda, the chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), has lived in exile in the United Kingdom since 2003 after he was charged with masterminding an attack on a police station in Abepura.
“I think it’s true that Benny Wenda is part of the conspiracy regarding [Papua],” Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said at a media conference on Monday. “Benny Wenda has been very active for a long time, giving out false information. [Making it seem], as if we neglect Papua, as if we commit human rights violations every day.”
Wiranto said on Friday that parties were “free-riding” on the unrest and “deliberately pushing for there to be chaos”.
Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko also accused Wenda on Monday of conducting “diplomatic mobilization” and spreading false information on what was happening in Papua.
National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian previously claimed that rioters in Papua and West Papua had connections with an international network.
“The parties who are suspected of mobilizing [rioters] have been mapped and are being investigated,” he said on Sunday as quoted by Antara news agency.
