Seven declared suspects for flying independence flags<\/p>\n
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua<\/p>\n
Seven of 42 Papuans arrested on Thursday for flying the Morning-
\nStar independence flag in Manokwari have been declared suspects
\nand will be charged with treason under the Criminal Code, a
\npolice officer says.<\/p>\n
Manokwari Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dedy Kusnadi also said
\non Friday that the seven, identified as Carlos Yumame, Luter
\nDuansiba, Ishak Toansiba, Han Mandacan, Terry Korayem, Yulianus
\nIndem, and leader Yohakim Mensi, were being detained at the
\npolice detention center in Manokwari.<\/p>\n
\"The seven will be charged with treason as stipulated in
\nArticle 106 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum
\nsentence of life imprisonment,\" Dedy told The Jakarta Post by
\nphone from Manokwari.<\/p>\n
\"The remaining 35 people have been released because they did
\nnot have any idea about the plan to raise the independence flag,\"
\nhe added. \"Some of them even attended merely because they were
\npromised T-shirts.\"<\/p>\n
Police arrested 42 Papuans in Manokwari early on Thursday for
\nhoisting the flags symbolizing the independent state of West
\nPapua inside the compound of an elementary school in Amban and at
\na transmitter belonging to state-owned radio station Radio
\nRepublik Indonesia (RRI).<\/p>\n
The flag-raising ceremony was organized to commemorate the
\nsixth anniversary of independence of the so-called West Papua
\nstate, which falls on Nov. 27.<\/p>\n
The declaration of the West Papua state was first made by
\nMichaeil Kareth in 1997 in Port Moresby, the capital of
\nneighboring Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n
According to Dedy, Yohakim was a wanted man because he
\ncommitted a similar violation last year. At the time, he led a
\nflag-hoisting ceremony inside the compound of a junior high
\nschool in Fanindi Dalam, but managed to escape from police after
\nthe ceremony.<\/p>\n
Papua Governor J.P. Salossa has banned the raising of
\nseparatist flags and urged the Papuan people not to celebrate the
\ncommemoration of the Papuan independence day on Dec. 1.<\/p>\n
Security officers have approached local public figures and
\nreligious leaders to convey the ban, expecting that people would
\nvoluntarily follow leaders' calls.<\/p>\n
Since 1999, Papuan people have tried to commemorate the
\nindependence of the state of Papua on Dec. 1 and to raise flags
\nall around the territory.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 9, 2000, local officials -- including former governor
\nMusiran, former Trikora Military commander Maj. Gen. Albert
\nInkiriwang, former provincial police chief Brig. Gen. S. Wenas
\nand former local council speaker the late TN Kaiway -- decided
\nthat the flag hoisting could only be held at residences of tribal
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
Due to the decision, the Morning-Star flag is still being
\nraised at the house of Amungme tribal leader, the late Dortheys
\n\"Theys\" Hiyo Eluay, in Sentani, Jayapura.<\/p>\n
Theys was a former leader of the Papuan Presidium Council
\n(PDP) who was killed in November 2001. Several soldiers of the
\nArmy's Special Forces (Kopassus) were sentenced to jail after
\nbeing found guilty of his murder.<\/p>\n
A number of groups have been fighting since the late 1960s for
\nindependence for the oil-and-mineral-rich province. Many of them
\nare factions of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which has been
\nwaging a low-level guerrilla war with support from various ethnic
\ngroups in the region.<\/p>\n
Demands for independence appeared to die down in 2002, when
\nthe government granted special autonomy status to the province,
\ngiving greater authority to the local administration to manage
\nthe province.<\/p>\n
The central government, however, has dragged its feet in
\nimplementing the law, indefinitely delaying the establishment of
\nthe Papuan People's Council, the highest legislative body under
\nthe special autonomy arrangement.<\/p>\n
Papuans were further angered by the government decision to
\npartition the province into three, with most Papuans and analysts
\nseeing the move as part of a divide-and-rule policy.<\/p>\n
The government declared Papua -- a former Dutch colony -- as
\npart of the Republic of Indonesia in 1963, and the declaration
\nwas formalized in 1969 following a U.N.-sponsored referendum
\nwidely known as Pepera.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/seven-declared-suspects-for-flying-independence-flags-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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