Dozens of West Papuans have been named as treason suspects for attempts to raise the outlawed Morning Star flag.
Indonesian police arrested over 34 people in Papua province for planned activities to mark 1 December, which some Papuans consider their national day.
Victor Mambor, Jayapura – Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw has confirmed that two police officers are under investigation for alleged sexual harassment of a woman prisoner at the Papua Police headquarters in Jayapura.
Victor Mambor, Jayapura – Four students were taken to Abepura Police station while attending Mass at Gembala Baik Catholic Church, Abepura on Sunday (1/12/2019). Wearing the traditional clothes of Papuan highlands, two of them decorated their faces with the pattern of Morning Star.
Lea Citra, Jakarta – A witness has testified that police pointed a pistol at residents during the arrest of two Papuan students, Charles Kossay and Dano Tabuni, during a raid on the Lani Jaya student dormitory in Depok, West Java, on August 30.
Jakarta – A Papuan activists has testified that the police acted violently and made racist remarks during a raid on a Papuan student dormitory in Jakarta. This was revealed by Naliana Gwijangge during a pretrial hearing in a case of alleged treason against six students and Papuan activists.
Victor Mambor Jayapura – At least thirty-eight people in Indonesia's easternmost provinces were named treason suspects over the last week in connection with attempts to raise the Papuan flag, police and lawyers told BenarNews.
Adi Briantika – A pretrial hearing in a case of alleged treason by six Papuan political prisoners heard testimony from the plaintiffs on Wednesday December 4. The lawyers for the plaintiffs took the opportunity to present an expert witness.
Kharishar Kahfi, Jakarta – The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has ordered that a lawsuit against the government's decision to enforce an internet blackout during unrest in Papua and West Papua will go to trial.
The court ruled during a preliminary hearing on Monday that the suit, which was filed last week, would be handled by state administrative court judges.
Benjamin Robinson-Drawbridge – About 50 activists flew the Morning Star flag at New Zealand's Parliament on Monday to mark the 58th anniversary of the declaration of West Papuan independence.
Only one MP came out to greet the crowd which mostly comprised members of New Zealand's Pasifika communities.
Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution, Jayapura – Four youths in Abepura Sub-district, Jayapura, Papua, were apprehended, Sunday, over motifs of Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag painted over their faces indicating their support for the Free Papua Movement (OPM), a police officer stated.
Jakarta – The wife of Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) spokesperson Surya Anta, Lucia Fransisca, says that her husband was treated differently from other patients when he underwent a medical examination at the prison clinic.
Jakarta – The Papua Advocacy Team, which is assisting six Papuan activists who have been charged for raising the Morning Star independence flag, say that police committed theft, not legitimate seizure during their client's arrest. The team believes that the raids, seizures and arrests by police were illegal.
Ans K, Merauke – Merauke Regional Police arrested four residents who were referred to as sympathizers of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB). They were accused of vandalism for painting the Morning Star symbol on walls and fences in a number of locations in the City of Merauke.
Jakarta – The Jayapura municipal police have declared 20 people accused of being Free Papua sympathisers as suspects on charges of makar (treason, subversion, rebellion). The 20 are part of a group of 34 Free Papua sympathisers who were arrested by a joint team from the Jayapura municipal police on Saturday November 30.
Indonesian police in Jayapura have arrested dozens of people for planning to celebrate a key West Papuan nationalist anniversary.
Yesterday was the 58th anniversary of the first official raising of the Papuan Morning Star flag, when the indigenous people of the former Dutch New Guinea declared independence.
Oleh Farid M. Ibrahim – Welcoming December 1, 2019 yesterday, activists from the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) and its supporters in a number of different countries held actions in which they brought and flew the Morning Star independence flag. Several activities were coordinated on social media through the hashtag #GlobalFlagRaising.
Jakarta – The Jayapura district police (Polres) have arrested 34 people for allegedly planning to celebrate the Free Papua Movement's (OPM) anniversary on Sunday December 1.
Jayapura police chief Assistant Superintendent Viktor Mackbon told the Antara state news agency that the 34 people were arrested on the evening of Saturday November 30 at around 10pm.
Jessica Howard – It's been 10 years since a group of Warrnambool activists started flying the West Papuan 'Morning Star' flag and their spirit has not dampened.
Nearly 20 people attended the flag-raising ceremony at Warrnambool's Civic Green on Sunday – the biggest turn out in about five years.
Jakarta (Antara) – Papuan gunmen fired at an escort car owned by PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) at around Mile 60 in Tembagapura Subdistrict, Mimika District, Papua Province, on Saturday but there were no casualties in the incident, a military spokesman said.
Rahmat Rahman Patty, Ambon – A protest action by scores of Papuan students calling themselves the Struggle Committee for Democracy and Human Rights in front of the World Peace Gong in Ambon City, Maluku, was broken up by police on Sunday December 1.
Shinta Maharani, Yogyakarta – Around 100 students from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) along with various other organisations held a protest action demanding a referendum for West Papua at the Gajah Mada University (UGM) traffic circle in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Sunday December 1.
Jakarta (Antara) – A total of 156 personnel from Indonesia's Para Raider 330/Tri Dharma's Infantry Battalion joined a parachuting drill at Mozes Kilangin Airport in Timika, Papua Province, Friday morning.
Jakarta (Antara) – The Papua Province Police deployed 1,300 officers to anticipate rally or other mass activities to celebrate the anniversary of separatist group Free Papua Movement (OPM) on December 1, a high ranking official said on Sunday.
Karoline Tuckey – A group calling for an end to violence in West Papua say they have received threats in the lead-up to a protest at Parliament today, where they will display 57 coffins painted in West Papuan colours.
Many New Zealanders don't know much about the conflict in West Papua, but are supportive when they are told about it, a protest organiser says.
Papua (Antara) – Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security Mahfud Md holds a dialogue with several Papuan figures in North Jayapura District, City of Jayapura, Saturday, Nov. 30.
Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura – Emanuel Gobay, the Director of LBH Papua, said Ricky was arrested and detained by police for painting the 16 square meters of Morning Star pattern on the wall in his house. This arrest, said Gobay, was considered an attempt to criminalise Ricky using the ITE Law.
Jo Chandler in Kiunga – It's 35 years since Agapitus Kiku decided he didn't want a future without freedom.
As a young man he'd been pressed into a work gang, bristling under the watch of Indonesian soldiers whose authority over his tribal country, in the south-east corner of the vast contested province then called Irian Jaya, he refused to recognise.
Tomasz Augustyniak – European diplomats are stepping up pressure on Indonesia to look into the case of a Polish man who has been jailed in its easternmost region for more than a year, amid reports of his declining health.
The Australia West Papua Association thanks the Inner West Council in Sydney for supporting the raising of the West Papuan National Flag on its Leichhardt Town Hall today, 29 November at 10am. (to commemorate the first official flying of the Morning Star flag on the 1st December in 1961). (Note Council closed 1st Dec.).
Jakarta – Indonesian authorities should drop treason charges and release at least 22 activists detained since August 2019 for peaceful acts of free expression concerning Papua, Human Rights Watch said today.
Andita Rahma and Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – National Police ensured the legal process against Papuan college students who were suspected in the alleged cases of racism in Surabaya would be continued.
Andita Rahma, Jakarta – National Police chief General Idham Azis and Indonesian Armed Forces or TNI commander Air Chief Marshall set to leave for Papua today, November 27. The visit was reportedly aimed at monitoring the situation ahead of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) anniversary that falls on December 1.
Hans Arnold Kapisa, Jakarta – A joint police team in Manokwari, West Papua, reportedly arrested eight locals who are believed to be involved in the preparation of an illegal commemoration of the region's resistance movement. Police personnel also confiscated 29 morning star (Bintang Kejora) flags in the raid.
Jakarta – The Indonesian police have banned people in Papua from holding celebrations in the lead up to the anniversary of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) on December 1.
Syahrul Ansyari, Foe Peace Simbolon – Metro Jaya regional police Public Relations Division Head Senior Commissioner Yusri Yunus claims that there were technical errors in the document summoning them to appear as defendants in a pretrial suit submitted by six Papua treason suspects challenging their arrest for flying the Morning Star flag – the symbol of the Free Papua Movement (OPM
Diana Mariska, Jakarta – Members of Indonesia's Regional Representative Council and researchers say the government should prioritize a "cultural approach" to end decades of conflicts in Indonesian Papua.
A special committee on Papua has been set up by the council (DPD) to formulate feasible solutions to bring stability to the resource-rich region.
Hans Arnold Kapisa, Jakarta – Papua Regional Police Chief Insp. General Paulus Waterpauw revealed that authorities found indications of the government's village funds being misused to support local armed criminal groups also known as KKB.
Alfian R, Rahmad Nasution, Jayapura, Papua – Commander of the 172/PWY Regional Military Command, Colonel J Binsar P Sianipar, urged all the residents of Jayapura to remain calm and not get provoked ahead of the commemoration of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) anniversary on December 1, 2019.
Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia has climbed four places to rank 41st in the world talent ranking based on a survey by Swiss-based IMD Business School, beating Thailand and the Philippines but still lagging behind Singapore and Malaysia.
Ahmad Syamsudin, Jakarta – An Indonesian lawyer who is wanted by police in her home country for alleged incitement of violence because she disseminated information via Twitter about recent unrest in Papua says she's a target of online threats.
Maire Leadbeater – Since August 17, Indonesia's national day, West Papua has been in the grip of an unparalleled uprising. Conflict has been relentless since 1963, when Indonesia took control of the territory, but this time Indonesia's repressive response is backed by a renewed determination to exclude the rest of the world.
Benny Mawel, Jayapura – Concerns over contaminated fish have arisen among residents of Jayapura, Papua following a broadcast message about fish that have been contaminated by mining waste at a bay in Papua New Guinea.
Arie Firdaus, Jakarta – Six activists who were detained after a rally demanding a referendum on self-determination for Indonesia's Papua region could soon go on trial on charges of treason after police submitted their case files to prosecutors, their lawyers and families said Tuesday.
Jakarta – The handover of the investigation dossiers and the six suspects charged with raising the Morning Star independence flag to the Central Jakarta State Prosecutor's Office (Kejari Jakpus) is seen as an attempt by police to avoid the pre-trail suit challenging their arrest.
Benny Mawel, Jayapura – The Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) has reiterated its reluctance to Jakarta's plan to establish new provinces in Papua, saying the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo should first address human rights violations in the country's easternmost region.
Nur Yasmin, Jakarta – The Education and Culture Ministry is holding an exhibition of Papuan culture, titled "The Diversity of Papuan Culture," at the Sarinah Mall on Jalan Thamrin in Central Jakarta from Nov. 18 to Dec. 18.
Jakarta – On Monday November 18, the Metro Jaya regional police (Polda Metro Jaya) handed over six suspects charged with raising the Morning Star flag in front of the State Palace in August to the Central Jakarta State Prosecutor's Office (Kejari Jakpus).
Noory Okthariza – Recent protests and riots in Papua and West Papua have reinvigorated the question of how capable the Indonesian government is of addressing problems in the east of the country.
Dyaning Pangestika, Jakarta – Journalists from Melanesian countries are urging the Indonesian government to put a stop to criminalizing journalism, following concerns about growing threats to media freedom in the country.
Jakarta – A teacher in the rural area of Mappi, Papua, has written an open letter to Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim asking him to pay more attention to the quality of school facilities in the village where she teaches.