Police scuttle attempts to fly Papuan flag

Nethy Dharma Somba and Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post/Jayapura, Papua

The police have foiled an attempt to raise the outlawed Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag, keeping pro-independence action planned for Dec. 1 low-key.

Hundreds of police officers had been deployed since early Thursday morning to Trikora field to prevent pro-independence leaders from raising their flag. The police action on Thursday certainly disappointed pro-independence Papuans who used logs to blockade a street in front of Cendrawasih University near the field. The group of independence supporters also pelted stones at university buildings, shattering windows.

The 700 independence supporters then marched from the university to the nearby campus of a Protestant bible college, unfurling a banner that read "the 44th Anniversary of West Papua Independence."

They entered the college's grounds, asking students to participate in the rally. But, as the students refused to join in, they assembled on a street in front of the campus.

Under tight security, they held a rally, speaking on Papua's incorporation into Indonesian territory.

The police detained two protesters for putting the logs on the road, but Jayapura Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Paulus Waterpauw claimed they were not being held as suspects but merely for questioning.

Although the flag-hoisting attempt was prevented, peaceful commemorations of Papua "independence day" were held in Sentani near Jayapura at the house of Theys Hiyo Eluay, who was abducted and killed by security personnel in 2002 in Papua.

A prayer was said at the function and an address was delivered condemning a UN ballot in 1969, which led to Papua's incorporation into Indonesia.

In a separate development, an Indonesian soldier shot dead a Papuan on the same day in Boven Digul regency, some 250 kilometers north of Merauke city, Papua. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Totok Surono said the Papuan, Labarius Oga, 33, an employee with a private company was shot dead for attacking soldier Chief Pvt. Zulkarnaen Lubis. Labarius was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, over 30 Papuan students held a rally in the city, demanding the Indonesian government grant Papua independence. In Jakarta, Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said the government would deploy some 15,000 soldiers to Papua within five years in order to prevent conflicts that could lead to an independent Papua.

Dec. 1 was declared Papuan independence day by separatists who proclaimed the state of West Papua on Dec. 1, 1962.

Indonesia took effective control of Papuan territory a year later, after which the separatist movement continued to wage a low-level guerrilla revolt in the province.