Jakarta – Dozens of people were injured Tuesday when police clashed with independence supporters in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, news reports said.

The clash erupted outside Jayapura's district court in Papua's capital after government prosecutors demanded up to five years in prison for two pro-independence activists who are accused for coordinating a ceremony to hoist the banned "Morning Star" independence flags, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

The agency quoted officials as saying dozens of people, including police officers, were injured in the clash. Several cars were damaged and the court building's windows were shattered.

Antara reported that at least 11 people were rushed to the Jayapura general hospital to get intensive care for their wounds, while an unspecified number of others were brought to Bhayangkara hospital.

During the clash, two groups threw stones at each other. Dozens of people tried to block a car carrying the two defendants, Philip Karma and Yusack Pakage, out of the court building, to the detention centre.

On December 1 of last year, both Karma and Pakage organized a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of Papua's independence by hoisting the independence flags at the Abepura district town.

Despite the government's ban, pro-independence activists and sympathizers of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM), have annually commemorated the anniversary of the province's independence day on December 1. The OPM, comprising a small group of separatist rebels, has been fighting a sporadic rebellion in Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, since early 1960s.

International human rights groups have recently expressed deep concerns over an anti-insurgency operation in Papua launched by the Indonesian military forces, saying it has undermined peace and stability in the province.

Papua, the predominantly Melanesian province 3,700 kilometres northeast of Jakarta, is a former Dutch colony that became an Indonesian province in 1969.