Separatists protest in Manokwari

JAKARTA (JP): Security personnel fired warning shots to disperse 500 separatists as they tried on Saturday to enter the pier area of the port of Manokwari, on the northwest tip of the mineral-rich province of Irian Jaya, Antara reported on Saturday.

There were no reports of casualties, but the news agency said security officers were wounded on Friday during a rally in front of Manokwari's legislative assembly where separatist flags were raised.

Irian Jaya's military chief has said those behind the flag- hoisting would be hunted down and arrested.

Indonesia revoked Irian Jaya's status as a military operations area last week after a cease-fire agreement with guerrillas of the Free Papua Movement (OPM).

Also on Saturday, Antara reported that local human rights organizations have set up a 32-person team of lawyers to defend five people detained by police for allegedly organizing a separatist demonstration on Oct. 1 a spokesman for the organization said here on Friday.

Abdul Rahman Upara, director of the Jayapura branch of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (LBH), told reporters the 32 lawyers were affiliated to the local chapters of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), the Indonesian Defense Attorneys Association (IKADI), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), LBH itself and a number of individual lawyers.

Upara said the families of the five detainees had asked the team to defend their arrested relatives throughout the process of their cases, starting from the phase in which they undergo police interrogation to their trial in court.

On Sept. 30 Jayapura security forces arrested five people suspected of being the brains behind demonstrations demanding independence for Irian Jaya.

Upara said he had already met the five in police custody and learned from them that they were arrested without due respect for the relevant legal procedure.