Gus Dur offers freedom but not independence<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Visiting President Abdurrahman Wahid said in
\nIrian Jaya on Monday that Jakarta would allow \"peaceful freedom
\nof expression\" in the province, but warned against any attempt to
\nsecede from the republic.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a Christmas celebration in the provincial
\ncapital of Jayapura, Abdurrahman said that \"Irian Jaya must
\nremain part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia\".<\/p>\n
\"I will allow the people here to freely express their
\nopinions, but if there is any attempt to declare independence of
\nthe province, I will take action against it,\" Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
In what appeared to be a shift from his earlier stance,
\nAbdurrahman also said Monday that the police move to arrest
\nIrianese pro-independence leader Theys Eluay earlier this month
\nhad to be \"respected\".<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman had earlier called on the police to release Theys
\nso that dialog between Jakarta and Irian leaders in the troubled
\nprovince could resume.<\/p>\n
Top security officials in Jakarta refused, however, to bow to
\nthe President's demand. Instead, the promised to speed up the
\ninvestigation against Theys, who has been charged with
\nsubversion.<\/p>\n
Theys and four other Irian Jaya pro-independence activists
\ngrouped in the Papuan Presidium Council were arrested prior to
\nand after the observance of the unrecognized 1961 declaration of
\nindependence for Irian, also known as West Papua.<\/p>\n
At least 16 people have died this month in a series of violent
\nincidents related to the growing clamor for independence in the
\neasternmost province.<\/p>\n
The 31-member Presidium has so far been advocating dialog and
\na non-violent approach to the independence struggle.<\/p>\n
Irianese civic leaders had earlier suggested that the arrest
\nof Theys could be considered as an attempt to provoke Irianese
\npeople to put up resistance.<\/p>\n
They also accused Jakarta of trying to create preconditions
\nfor imposing repressive measures in the province.<\/p>\n
Also present on Monday were First Lady Sinta Nuriyah
\nAbdurrahman, the Indonesian Military Chief Adm. Widodo A.S.,
\nIrian Jaya Governor J.P. Salossa, Minister of Agriculture and
\nForestry Bungaran Saragih and Junior Minister for the
\nAcceleration of Development in Indonesia's Eastern Region Manuel
\nKaisiepo.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a member of the Presidium was quoted by AFP as
\nsaying on Monday that Abdurrahman has left independence leaders
\nin Irian Jaya out of the schedule of his two-day visit to the
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
\"We have had no invitation,\" Presidium moderator Willy
\nMandowen said.<\/p>\n
\"There are no plans for any meeting between Presidium members
\nand Gus Dur,\" he said referring to the president by his nickname.<\/p>\n
Willy said, however, the Presidium's deputy leader, Tom
\nBeanal, may be included in a group of community leaders scheduled
\nto hold talks with Abdurrahman in the southern mining town of
\nTimika on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Tom is chief of the Timika-based Amungme people.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, who arrived in Jayapura at around 5 p.m., is
\nscheduled to return to Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's visit to Irian Jaya was shadowed by a series of
\nbombings at churches across the country on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the bombings, Abdurrahman pledged in Jayapura
\nthat the government \"will get to the bottom\" of the incident and
\nsaid that strict measures would be taken against the
\nperpetrators.<\/p>\n
\"We should not be afraid of terrorists. The state will not be
\nafraid of them and we will take action on them,\" he was quoted by
\nAntara as saying.(35\/byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gus-dur-offers-freedom-but-not-independence-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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