Seven people have been found guilty of treason after raising the banned Morning Star flag in West Papua, a province of Indonesia.

In the Jayapura District Court this week, the seven were each jailed for 10 months and fined.

The flag is considered a symbol of the West Papua struggle for independence and has been strictly barred by the Indonesian authorities.

Jayapura – The General Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Papua Police has revealed the motive for the murder and mutilation of four Nduga residents in Timika was a robbery.

Jayapura – Spokesperson for the Papua Peace Network (JDP) Yan Cristian Warinussy said President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo did not commit to resolving conflicts in the Land of Papua. Jokowi has repeatedly visited Papua without ever showing real steps to resolve the conflict.

Jayapura – Head of the Papua Office of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM Papua) Frits Ramandey asked the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) not to target civilians. Ramandey said this responding to the shooting that killed one employee of PT MUJ in Sugapa District, Intan Jaya Regency.

Jayapura – The Constitutional Court on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, read out its decision in the case of reviewing Law No. 2/2021 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 21/2001 on Special Autonomy (Otsus) for Papua filed by the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP). The Constitutional Court rejected the Papuan People's Assembly's please entirely.

Jayapura – The Papua Council of Churches says the atrocities and violence that continue to occur in Papua, including the recent murder and mutilation of four Nduga residents in Mimika Regency, are caused by the stigma against Papuans that has long grown among Indonesian security forces.

Jayapura – The Jayapura District Court on Monday, August 29, 2022, declared the seven people who raised the Morning Star flag at Cenderawasih Sports Center guilty of treason. They were each sentenced to 10 months in prison, and required to pay Rp 5,000 in compensation for state losses.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo instructed the Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander General Andika Perkasa to assist and back up the legal process carried out by the police in the mutilation case in Papua which allegedly involves six soldiers. He said the legal process must be continued.

Victor Mambor and Pizaro Gozali Idrus, Jayapura and Jakarta – Indonesia's president said Wednesday that police must thoroughly investigate six soldiers who were arrested as suspects in the grisly killing of four civilians in Papua last week, but residents of the troubled region cast doubt that justice would be served.

Church officials in Indonesia's Christian-majority Papua province have called for fail trial against six soldiers arrested for allegedly killing and mutilating four people.

M Julnis Firmansyah I Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo did not comment too much when asked about the murder and mutilation of four Papua civilians by a number of TNI Army soldiers in the Mimika District area. The president claims he had not heard too much about the case.

Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) has recorded that 61 people died during a series of 63 incidents of armed violence in Papua between 2021 and July 2022.

It is heartbreaking to hear that four indigenous Papuan civilians have been killed and mutilated by Indonesian special forces. The names of the dead are Arnold Lokbere, Rian Nirigi, Lemanion Nirigi, and Atis Tini.

Jakarta – Authorities in Papua region have detained six army officers and launched an investigation into their alleged involvement in the brutal killing of four civilians last week, military officials said on Monday.

Lt. Gen. Teguh Muji Angkasa, a senior military officer in Papua, told a televised news briefing the military and police would conduct a joint investigation.

Jayapura, Indonesia – Indonesian security forces said Monday they have arrested six elite troops who are accused of involvement in the killing of four indigenous Papuans and the mutilation of their bodies.

AWPA condemns the brutal killing of 4 West Papuan civilians in Pigapu-Logopon Village in the Mimika Regency in Papua. The victims were residents of neighbouring Nduga district where there are regular clashes between the Indonesian security forces and the Free Papua movement.

Jayapura – Following the murder of four Papuans in Timika, Mimika Regency – Arnold Lokbere, Rian Nirigi, Elemaniel "Leman" Nirigi, and Atis Tini, the family of victims said they searched for the bodies without the help of the police, Indonesian Military (TNI), or Mimika SAR team. The family has been searching for the victims ever since they went missing on August 22, 2022.

Enarotali – The commander in chief of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), Damianus Magai Yogi states that Indonesia and Papua are equal in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).

Jakarta – Authorities in Indonesia's Papua region have detained six army officers and launched an investigation into their alleged involvement in the brutal murder of four civilians last week, military officials said on Monday.

Teguh Muji Angkasa, a senior military officer in Papua, told a televised news briefing the military and police would conduct a joint investigation.

Jayapura, Jubi – If you look at the mangroves in Papua New Guinea from Vanimo in north-westernmost PNG to the provinces of East Sepik and Madang, you can see that their mangroves are thriving well. Even though there is nickel mining in East Sepik's capital of Wewak, the mangroves are left untouched.

Jayapura, Jubi – The Manokwari Sorong Diocese Catholic Church has recently persuaded the displaced people of Maybrat to return to their hometown in Kisor Village.

Reiner Brabar, Sorong – The Greater Sorong Papua People's Petition (PRP) is continuing to hold actions protesting the formation of new autonomous regions (DOB) in the territory of West Papua. The latest action was held in front of the Elin Sorong traffic lights on Thursday August 23.

Markus You, Nabire – The process of uncovering the alleged gross human rights violations that took place in the Bloody Paniai case on December 8, 2014, has failed to reveal the senior officer who allegedly gave the command to shoot into the crowd, which resulted in five people being killed and 11 others being injured.

Ryan Dagur – A court in Indonesia has rejected a petition filed by a district head in Papua asking it to dismiss a case against him in which he stands accused of corruption in a church construction project.

Jayapura – Public prosecutor Achmad Kobarubun made a response to the defense memorandum of the defendant's lawyer, the Papua Coalition of Law Enforcement and Human Rights, in the trial of alleged treason by seven Morning Star flag raisers at the Jayapura District Court on Wednesday, August 24, 2022.

Sorong – Due to heavy rains from Monday, August 22, 2022, until Tuesday morning, a landslide claimed two lives in Sorong City, West Papua Province. In addition, a total of two people were injured and two houses were severely damaged in the incident, according to the Sorong City Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD).

Jayapura – Emanuel Gobay of the Papua Coalition for Law Enforcement and Human Rights, the legal counsel for the seven Morning Star raisers charged with treason, read out their defense memorandum in a trial at the Jayapura District Court on Monday, August 22, 2022.

Jayapura – Chairman of the Special Group of the Papua Legislative Council (DPRP) John NR Gobai said the central government should not be afraid or hesitant to establish a Human Rights Court in Papua. Indeed, such a court is urgently needed because there are many unsolved cases of human rights violations in Papua.

Antara, Jakarta – Floods struck Sorong City, West Papua following heavy rains from Monday until early today, August 23, 2022. Other than 1,5-meter-high flooding, landslides also hit the area, killing two people.

Jakarta – Lawyer Yones Douw said that his clients, families of victims of the Bloody Paniai gross human rights violations were disappointed that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) only named one suspect in the case. Douw said the victims' families let the trial at the Makassar Human Rights Court proceed but they declined to attend.

Laurens Ikinia, Auckland – Governor Lukas Enembe of Indonesia's Melanesian province of Papua has expressed support for a call from the Papuan Student Association Oceania (PSAO) for a New Zealand-Papuan scholarship.

John Mcbeth – The Indonesian Government's decision to carve up the sprawling province of Papua into four has been widely seen by its detractors as a strategic move to divide and conquer the rebellious indigenous population living mostly along the central mountain chain.

Jayapura – Papua Legislative Council's (DPRP) Special Group chair John NR Gobai said the Manasari Village community suspected siltation of the river around their village, which is located in Far East Mimika District, Mimika Regency, Papua Province.

Jakarta – Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) coordinator Fatia Maulidiyanti urges the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) to proactively protect the families of victims and other witnesses who will be presented in the Bloody Paniai trial at the Makassar Human Rights Court this August 2022.

Jayapura – The West Papua National Liberation Army or TPNPB warned the Nduga Regent, Namia Gwijangge, and the 172 Praja Wira Yakthi (PWY) Military Resort Command commander, Brig. Gen. Juinta Omboh Sembiring, not to enter and build the Alguru Village in Krepkuri District, Nduga Regency.

Rizky Suryarandika, Jakarta – Human rights activist and lawyer for the families of the victims of the 2014 Paniai massacre in Papua, Younes Douw, has revealed the reluctance on the part of the families to attend the human rights trial hearing the case. The families object because only one person has been declared a suspect.

Did Indonesian singing megastar Lyodra call for Papua's sovereignty in front of President Joko Widodo and other state officials during yesterday's independence day morning ceremony at the Presidential Palace? Not according to a palace spokesman, who lambasted those that implied as much.

Jayapura, Jubi – Indonesia will celebrate its 77th Independence Day on Wednesday, August 17, 2022. The Papua Peace Network (JDP) believes that today, even after 77 years, the Indonesian government has not been able to resolve the Papua conflict, resulting in prolonged armed conflict in Papua.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities should immediately drop politically motivated treason charges and release Papuans detained for the peaceful exercise of their rights in the Papua and West Papua provinces, Human Rights Watch said today.

A Papuan student advocacy group has called for the establishment of a future Aotearoa New Zealand scholarship for West Papuans to replace a controversial Indonesian-funded programme that left many students stranded this year with incomplete studies.

Yamin Kogoya – Sixty years ago today – on 15 August 1962 – the fate of a newly born nation-state West Papua was stolen by men in New York. The infamous event is known as "The New York Agreement", a deal between the Netherlands and Indonesia over West Papua's sovereignty.

Jayapura, Jubi – Researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Cahyo Pamungkas said that in order to resolve with dignity the prolonged conflict in Papua, the solution was no other than through dialogue, not even the regional expansion into new provinces.

Jayapura, Jubi – Director of the Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua) Emanuel Gobay said that the trial of "Bloody Paniai" human rights violations ignored the rule of law.

Jayapura, Jubi – Director of the Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua) Emanuel Gobay asked the Papua Legislative Council (DPRP) to immediately fulfill its promise to form a special committee to resolve the dispute between gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia and its former workers.

Jayapura, Jubi – Gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) is once again considered to be unfair as it opens job vacancies amid the uncertain fate of thousands of Freeport ex-workers who were terminated unilaterally in 2017.

Jakarta, Jubi – The chief editor of Jubi who is also the former chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Jayapura, Victor Mambor, received the Udin Award at the 28th anniversary of the AJI.

Ryan Dagur – A native Papuan journalist known for reporting on human rights issues has been awarded the press freedom award by an Indonesian journalists' organization.

Victor Mambor, the co-founder of tabloid Jubi, the largest media in Papua, was presented the Udin Award on the 28th anniversary of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) on Aug. 7.

Jenny Munro, Els Rieke Tieneke Katmo, Yustina Wambrauw – HIV is rife in West Papua. The Indonesian province is reported to have the highest levels of infection outside of West Africa, with Indigenous peoples particularly affected.

Jayapura, Jubi – The Jayapura District Court on Thursday, August 4, 2022, continued the trial of the alleged treason involving seven Morning Star raisers at Cenderawasih Sports Center, Jayapura City.

Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo officially enacted three laws establishing new Papuan provinces – South Papua, Central Papua and the Papua Highlands – on July 25. Moving forward, the President has six months to appoint caretaker governors while the government addresses how the new provinces will impact the upcoming 2024 elections.