Irianese hoist West Papua flag

Irianese hoist West Papua flag

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: Dozens of residents in a remote Irian
Jaya subdistrict of Ganyem, about 100 kilometers west of here,
defied a police warning to lower a separatist West Papua flag on
Thursday.

As of 5 p.m. local time, scores of police and military troops
were still persuading the people to abide by their order.

Provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Hotman Siagian said here
that the police would take stern measures against the
proindependence group if their persuasive approach was
unsuccessful.

Proindependence student Samuel Yaru said the security
authorities did not have the right to stop people from hoisting
the Morning Star flag.

Demands for independence have been persistently aired in the
country's easternmost province for years, with many protesting
Jakarta's unfair revenue-sharing deals from mining exploitation
here.

At Cendrawasih University campus, hundreds of students
commemorated on Thursday the death of Steven Suripaty, who was
shot during a proindependence rally on July 3 last year. Chairman
of the university student senate, Philipus Oscar Mansi, said the
memorial would last until Saturday.

In Semarang, some 50 Irian indigenous students marched
peacefully through the Central Java capital city in support of
independence for both Irian Jaya and East Timor. They distributed
leaflets demanding the Indonesian Military (TNI) leave Irian Jaya
and the government release political prisoners. (34/har)