1) Torres
Strait asylum bid by West Papuan activists a test for Abbott government
2) Pensioner
Gerard Little escapes jail after pleading guilty to planning to fight against
Indonesia government as mercenary
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1) Torres Strait asylum bid by West Papuan activists a test for Abbott government
UP TO seven West Papuan independence activists are believed to have fled across the Torres Strait to northern Queensland in search of asylum after supporting Australian "Freedom Flotilla" members who sailed close to Indonesian waters earlier this month.
West Papuan and Australian sources have told The Australian the group eluded Indonesian police and military searchers by travelling to Papua New Guinea by speedboat on Sunday, before crossing the Torres Strait on Monday night to Australia's Boigu Island, just 4km south of the PNG mainland.
Authorities are understood to be searching the Torres Strait for the vessel used by the asylum-seekers, who are now in the custody of the Department of Immigration and who face transfer to Manus island or Nauru for processing.
While it was believed there were six activists in the group, it's understood seven people made the crossing of the Torres Strait - the first since Tony Abbott launched his hardline border protection policy, Operation Sovereign Borders, last week.
During the election, the Prime Minister warned of the need for a `Torres Strait Solution' to prevent the region becoming a new route for asylum-seekers. More patrol resources were pledged but no announcements have been made.
It is believed the group will seek refugee status in Australia, claiming they face persecution in West Papua for peaceful political expression after participating in or acting in support of the flotilla venture.
The flight of the West Papuans has the potential to cause a serious row with Jakarta, just when the Abbott government is already under fire from Indonesia over its controversial plan to turn back asylum-seeker boats.
The decision of the Howard government to provide protection to a group of 43 West Papuan refugees in 2006 caused what was seen as the biggest crisis in bilateral relations since Australia's intervention in favour of East Timorese independence in 1998-99.
One West Papuan believed to be in the group, Yacob Mandabayan, contacted The Australian from West Papua last Wednesday, saying he and five others had gone into hiding and were “not safe”, after threats were made against them by Indonesian military and police.
Mr Mandabayan had days earlier participated in a covert ceremony involving the handover of ceremonial gifts to West Papuan leaders by the members of the Freedom Flotilla protest mission.
The Freedom Flotilla included two groups of Australians travelling towards West Papua, one by yacht and one across land through Papua New Guinea, to support the West Papuan independence struggle.
Reports subsequently emerged from Merauke in West Papua - the planned destination for the Freedom Flotilla's flagship yacht - of police and military “sweeping” operations in search of local activists who had supported the protest.
West Papuan online news site tabloidubi.com featured a photograph of police searching passengers arriving in Merauke by plane and quoting police officials confirming that search and other coastal search operations were related to the flotilla.
Mr Mandabayan told The Australian: “The military threaten me with ongoing surveillance around the house at night times and during the day.
“They trying to identify me and other cousins whether we involve directly with flotilla or not.
“They say that the border is closed and they will do sweeping and find out about who involved with the cultural ceremony.
“Now we become refugees in our own country.”
Four West Papuans have already been arrested and charged with “treason” after organising a prayer gathering in support of the flotilla.
The treason charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Amnesty International says the four were “arrested and charged solely for their peaceful political activism, which remains highly restricted in Papua”.
Australian-based West Papuans say another five activists have also been arrested for organising celebratory functions as the ceremonial gifts brought by flotilla members were taken on a tour of the disputed territory.
News of the asylum seekers' flight also follows a report by Guardian Australia of the shooting of civilians by Indonesian paramilitary police on Monday, in disputed circumstances.
West Papua was claimed by Indonesia after a 1969 referendum widely regarded as a sham. Human rights monitors say thousands of West Papuans have been killed by the Indonesian military in the decades since.
Additional reporting: Sarah Elks
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/torres-strait-asylum-bid-by-west-papuan-activists-a-test-for-abbott-government/story-fn9hm1gu-1226727723094#sthash.TOspLYQ0.dpuf
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2) Pensioner Gerard Little escapes jail after pleading guilty to planning to fight against Indonesia government as mercenary
A PENSIONER has escaped jail despite pleading guilty to planning to fight against the Indonesian government in West Papua as a mercenary.
Gerard Michael Little, 46, plead guilty in Brisbane District Court on Thursday to preparing for incursion in a foreign state by undertaking a five-day course in the Ukraine in August last year.
He was arrested in early December by Australian Federal Police moments before getting on a flight to Port Moresby at the Brisbane International Airport.
Judge McGill said the case was not as of a serious threat as it first appeared.
“The whole thing really is a fantasy,” he said.
“It’s all a bit silly really.”
Gerard Little was sentenced with time served.
Judge McGill found the training course, that listed command control operations, “slingshot VS leapfrog” and methods of entry as part of the course and told expected participants to bring equipment like a torch, would have been next to useless in a West Papua war-zone.
“You were always pretty harmless,” he told Mr Little.
The 46-year-old, who suffers from epilepsy and bipolar disorder. sat silently during his sentencing, wearing a black collared shirt and jeans.
Defence lawyer Craig Eberhardt poured scorn of the idea Mr Little was genuinely involved with freedom fighters and was extremely unprepared for the trip.
Mr Eberhardt said the Victorian man had not even been appropriately vaccinated for a visit to the region, nor had he organised any anti-malaria pills.
“He is a broken-down, old man who was delusional,” he said.
On Mr Little’s own Facebook page, he described himself as a Colonel but the court found he had no prior military experience.
Mr Eberhardt said any person with basic military training would know not to share their plans with the world on social media sites.
He argued the little training Mr Little had undertaken would do little against the 80,000 strong force of the Indonesian army and reserves.
But Crown prosecutor Shane Hunter said Mr Little was in the process of going to Port Moresby with the intention of island hopping his way to the war-torn area of West Papau, making the potential threat more real.
But Judge McGill said even if Mr Little had been given a gun and let loose in the jungle, he would not have presented a large threat.
“The only real danger he presented was to himself.”
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