Jayapura – The Papuan Traditional Council (DAP), the Human Rights and Violence Foundation (Yahamak), and the Association of Pengunungan Tengah Students (AMPTI) urged police to release seven people arrested for a series of attacks on PT Freeport Indonesia.

DAP leader Forkorus Yoboisembut, Yahamak director Yosepah Alomang and AMPTPI chairman Dominikus Sorabut made the demand at a joint press conference Tuesday in Jayapura, Papua.

Dominikus said the seven were among 25 Papuans arrested after shooting incidents near the Freeport mine over the past four months.

The charges against the seven were seemingly fabricated because they were nabbed without evidence, he added. "Strangely enough, the seven people were arrested in downtown Timika, while the evidence (against them) was seized elsewhere," he said.

He added the charges against them were baseless, as their arrests had failed to stop the attacks on Freeport employees in Timika. Forkorus accused the police of staging the arrests to make it look like they were actually on the trail of the gunmen.

Yosepha said the seven suspects were not the shooters, but were victims. He pointed out one of them, identified as 25-year-old Domi Beanal, was mentally disabled.