Monday, June 17, 2013

1) Indonesia, PNG agree to increase cooperation




1) Indonesia, PNG agree to increase cooperation
2) Melanesian leaders to discuss West Papua bid
3) Angry residents burn down police station in Oksibil
4) Reinforcements Sent to Papua Town Following Police Station Attack
5) Situation calm in Tembagapura after rampage
6) Merpati denies its plane missing in Papua

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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/89410/indonesia-png-agree-to-increase-cooperation

1) Indonesia, PNG agree to increase cooperation

Mon, June 17 2013 19:28 | 155 Views
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have agreed to increase bilateral cooperation, the two countries` heads of state said ahead of their meeting here on Monday.


The bilateral meeting was part of the agenda of the current visit of Papua New Guinea`s prime minister O`Neill to Indonesia.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono considered the state visit of the PNG prime minister this time very significant for developing and increasing the cooperation between the two countries following the meetings before in Honolulu and in the Bali Democracy Forum last year.

"This visit is very important not only for the two countries` bilateral relations but also for increasing and strengthening our relations and partnership. We have agreed to work more and seek more opportunities and comprehensive partnership," he said.

Prime Minister O`Neill meanwhile said he was glad over the warn welcome that had been given to him and his delegation.

He said as close neighbors PNG and Indonesia could continue to develop their cooperation wider.

PM O`Neill flanked by his wife made a state visit to Indonesia after a meeting with President Yudhoyono in Bali in 2012.

The two countries` delegations are also scheduled to conduct bilateral talks and cooperation agreements would also be signed during the PNG prime minister`s visit.

reporting by m arif iskandar
(H-YH/A014) 
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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2) Melanesian leaders to discuss West Papua bid

Posted 17 June 2013, 10:12 AEST
A gathering of Pacific leaders in New Caledonia will this week decide whether to admit a pro-independence group from Indonesian province of West Papua to the body.
A gathering of Pacific leaders in New Caledonia will this week decide whether to admit a pro-independence group from Indonesian province of West Papua to the body.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) brings together the leaders of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, along with New Caledonia's indigenous political movement FLNKS.
The Free West Papua movement, which has been pushing for independence from Indonesia, sees membership of the MSG as a step towards international recognition.
Vanuatu has voiced support in the past for West Papuan membership, but Fiji and Solomon Islands have yet to make their positions known.
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, ahead of a weekend visit to Indonesia, said PNG's policy was that West Papua was an integral part of Indonesia.
Mr O'Neill is not attending the New Caledonia meeting, but a high-powered delegation from Indonesia, including Melanesian members, is expected to attend.
The talks will also focus on a Melanesian free trade agreement, and support for the Front De Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS), which is pushing independence for New Caledonia.
At the end of the talks Fiji's interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama will hand over the chair to the FLNKS spokesman Victor Tutugoro.
The Kanak bid for independence from France was a core reason for the inception of the Melanesian Spearhead Group 25 years ago.

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3) Angry residents burn down police station in Oksibil

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Hundreds of residents attacked and burned down Pegunungan Bintang Police station in Oksibil, Pegunungan Bintang regency, Papua, on Sunday following a rumor that a police officer had beaten a drunk resident.

Two officers attempting to disperse the mob suffered head injuries after being pelted with stones, said Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya in Jayapura.

“The incident occurred at around 10:45 a.m. local time when hundreds of people attacked the police station,” Sumerta said.

“They heard a rumor that a resident named Leo Almon had been beaten by an officer [identified only as AK]. In fact, our officer tried to arrest a drunk man, but the man resisted arrest and fought with the
officer,” he continued.

Leo, Sumerta said, reportedly sustained injuries that sparked anger among residents of Daboldi village in Kalomdol district, who thought Leo had been tortured by the officer.

Armed with traditional weapons, the villagers attacked the police station and set it ablaze. The mob also damaged two police cars and 25 motorcycles.

Papua Police, he went on, plan to deploy additional personnel to restore order in Oksibil, the regency’s capital, and form a team to investigate the main cause of the incident.

The incident has left residents of Oksibil fearful to leave their homes. “We choose to stay behind closed doors. We saw a mob on the streets carrying machetes and arrows,” said Markus, a resident, over the phone. “We also heard gunshots, probably fired by officers who were attempting to disperse the mob,” he added.

Cenderawasih Military Command spokesman Col. Jansen Simanjuntak voiced concern over the incident.

“We suspect somebody is trying to provoke local residents, to make them angry,” Jansen told
The Jakarta Post.

In July 2007, the Pegunungan Bintang Police station was damaged by angry residents following the death of a civil servant named Denis Kasibmabin, who had been taken into custody for drunk and disorderly behavior.

Denis’s family suspected he had been beaten by police officers, which angered local residents who later attacked the station.

Situated about 90 minutes by plane from Papua’s capital of Jayapura, Pegunungan Bintang, which has a population of 113,000, is considered one the province’s security flash points due to its proximity to Papua New Guinea (PNG), which it shares a border with.

The border areas are regularly used by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) separatists to evade Indonesian security forces.

Like other isolated regencies in Papua, prices of goods in Pegunungan Bintang are exorbitant.

The regency’s development fund is often depleted through covering the cost of airline services, which link the regency to the outside world. About 40 percent of the regency’s budget, about Rp 600 billion (US$61.63 million), has been used to subsidize transportation costs.

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4) Reinforcements Sent to Papua Town Following Police Station Attack

Jayapura. High ranking police officers and reinforcements arrived at the Papuan highland town of Oksibil on Monday following an arson attack on the Pengunungan Bintang district police station.
“This morning, 26 members of the Brimob mobile police brigade arrived in Oksibil. Additionally, the chief and deputy chief of the Papua Police, as well as the heads of the Papua Police’s internal affairs, security intelligence and detectives units came to provide special assistance,” Sr. Comr. Sumerta Jayua, a spokesman for the Papua Police, said.
Sumerta said the incident began after the district police was told that three drunken men were extorting money from a passerby in Dabolding village.
“Four personnel went to the location to call on the men to halt what they were doing, but the group not only ignored the policemen but went on to attack them,” he said.
One of the men tried to take a firearm off one of the policemen, but the officer resisted and hit the man with the butt of his rifle.  The man fled.
However, according to Sumerta, rumor quickly spread that the police officer mistreated the three men, with some even saying that the three were killed by law enforcers.
“People started to get emotional and take to the street. The district police chief was forced to intervene to try and settle the matter,” he said.
“The locals continued to reject his efforts and began to pelt the homes of members of the district police with stones at around 10:00 on Sunday.”
The protest took a violent turn, with the mob setting the district police station and vehicles alight.
Three vehicles and 25 motorcycles, as well as the district police headquarters, were gutted by the fire.
Nine police men were injured in the incident, as well as one army first lieutenant and two civilians.
“We have not made any arrests,” Sumerta said.
Meanwhile, residents in Oksibil said on Monday that the town remained tense, with people afraid to leave their houses.
“We are still worried and are opting not to go to work because we fear that there may be more mob activity. Offices and stalls are also closed,” one resident who declined to be identified said by telephone.
The house of a local public figure, tribal chief Yance Kalakmabin, which is located only 400 meters from the police station, was also set ablaze, the resident said. Yance was out of town when the incident took place, and people expressed fear that he would take revenge once he returned home.
The resident, however, relayed a different version of the incident, saying that it all started with members of the local district police checking vehicles at a roadblock.
During the check, they supposedly found a drunken man, who was then reported to be beaten until his head was bleeding. The report of the beating incensed the local population.
“I was in church when a mob, angered by the report that a citizen was beaten by the police, marched to the police station and set fire to several motorcycles,” the source said.
Police began firing shots in the air after the mob already left the station, the resident added.
A local public figure, who also declined to be named, said that the episode occurred because of the population’s long simmering anger over the police’s increased checkpoints.
He said that since Oksibil was part of Papua’s hinterland, many residents did not possess driving permits. When the police began impounding their motorcycles and disturbing their daily lives, they became increasingly angry.
The public figured added that the fire which razed the house of the tribal chief was not started intentionally. He said that it only caught fire once the police began going after the mob, and that it was possible that one of the police’s bullets may have sparked the fire.


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5) Situation calm in Tembagapura after rampage

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The situation in Tembagapura mile 74, a Freeport Indonesia mining area, is reported to be quiet again after incidents of property damage perpetrated by a mob at 7:30 p.m. local time on Sunday.
“The situation is already under control. There were no victims during the incident,” Karel Luntungan of PT Freeport Indonesia’s corporate communication told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
During the incident, a group of people attacked and damaged company assets including 13 vehicles and a Securicor security post as well as several concentrate tanks.
Karel said the attack was perpetrated by around 70 people who were not company employees.
“The situation is getting back into normal. Security officials are patrolling the areas around the incident site,” he said.
The cause of the incident remains unclear.
“The people have been returning back to their homes,” said Karel, without elaborating. (ebf)
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6) Merpati denies its plane missing in Papua

Mon, June 17 2013 17:28 | 117 Views

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - Merpati Nusantara Airlines (MNA) denied an allegation on Monday that its Twin Otter plane was missing while on its flight from Jayapura to Oksibil in Indonesia`s easternmost province of Papua the day before.

"It is just a rumor," Merpati General Manager for Papua David said.

Merpati did not serve a Jayapura-Oksibil route, he said adding only Trigana and Pelita Air served the route.

A report had it that a Merpati Twin Otter plane carrying 13 people including two infants lost contact with the control tower on Sunday.

The report said the fate of all people aboard the plane was still unknown.

Reporting by Hendrina Dian Kandipi
(S012/F001) 
Editor: Jafar M Sidik


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