2) Indonesian Army Finds Bodies of Soldiers Killed in Papua Helicopter Crash
3) Indonesia soldier jailed for aiding Papua rebels
1) Papua Police refutes lawyer's report on political prisoners
7 hours ago
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - Papua Police rejected a report detailing deaths of 57 political prisoners and 243 civilians in Papua since December 2018, submitted by Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and fellow activists to President Joko Widodo recently. The report was untrue and distorted as the 57 prisoners were criminals, Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen Paulus Waterpauw confirmed here Friday.
"I firmly state that Miss Veronica Koman's statement on 57 political prisoners is untrue," Waterpauw said.
The police had handled all issues professionally and, therefore, it should not be linked to a political issue, he reiterated.
"She should not collect unclear data from Australia then throw them into the public domain (in Indonesia)," he said.
He challenged Koman to crosscheck her data with the Papua Police' data, saying that it would be fallacious if she conveyed something about Papua without her presence in the province. East Java Police have officially put Veronica Koman on its wanted person’s list and submitted a red corner notice to Interpol to help capture her overseas.
Police have declared Veronica a suspect, accusing her of spreading false information and provoking unrest in Papua and West Papua by publishing reports on the protests and attacks against Papuan students in East Java.
"The unrest (in West Papua) that led to the arrest of 57 people was an impact of a racism case in East Java," Waterpauw elaborated.
The racism case was used by armed criminal groups to ignite unrest in Papua that eventually claimed lives, he added.
Her team in Canberra had handed over letters to Jokowi directly during his meeting with the Australian government officials in the neighboring country’s capital, Koman claimed.
The letters included the names and locations of 57 political prisoners charged with treason and put behind bars in seven cities across Indonesia, as well as the names and ages of 243 civilians who had died during the Nduga military operation since December 2018, she said. (INE)
Related news: Respect native Papuans' cultural norms, traditions: military officer
Related news: Salvaging Papuan children's future from threats of alcohol addiction
"I firmly state that Miss Veronica Koman's statement on 57 political prisoners is untrue," Waterpauw said.
The police had handled all issues professionally and, therefore, it should not be linked to a political issue, he reiterated.
"She should not collect unclear data from Australia then throw them into the public domain (in Indonesia)," he said.
He challenged Koman to crosscheck her data with the Papua Police' data, saying that it would be fallacious if she conveyed something about Papua without her presence in the province. East Java Police have officially put Veronica Koman on its wanted person’s list and submitted a red corner notice to Interpol to help capture her overseas.
Police have declared Veronica a suspect, accusing her of spreading false information and provoking unrest in Papua and West Papua by publishing reports on the protests and attacks against Papuan students in East Java.
"The unrest (in West Papua) that led to the arrest of 57 people was an impact of a racism case in East Java," Waterpauw elaborated.
The racism case was used by armed criminal groups to ignite unrest in Papua that eventually claimed lives, he added.
Her team in Canberra had handed over letters to Jokowi directly during his meeting with the Australian government officials in the neighboring country’s capital, Koman claimed.
The letters included the names and locations of 57 political prisoners charged with treason and put behind bars in seven cities across Indonesia, as well as the names and ages of 243 civilians who had died during the Nduga military operation since December 2018, she said. (INE)
Related news: Respect native Papuans' cultural norms, traditions: military officer
Related news: Salvaging Papuan children's future from threats of alcohol addiction
---------------
2) Indonesian Army Finds Bodies of Soldiers Killed in Papua Helicopter Crash
Ronna Nirmala Jakarta 2020-02-14
A military search team found the bodies of all 12 servicemen who were killed when their helicopter crashed in the mountains of Indonesia’s Papua province eight months ago, the army said Friday, amid insurgents’ claims that they shot it down.
The army pinpointed the wreckage of the Russian-made Mi-17 from the air Monday, photographing the debris field strewn along steep and rugged terrain at an elevation of 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) in Oskop district, after area residents had located the crash site.
The search team reached the site on Thursday after walking for five hours from their base camp in the Mandala mountain range, the military said in a statement. Twelve people, including the crew, were aboard the chopper that went missing in late June.
“Tomorrow (Saturday) we will start evacuating the remains. The team will carry them to a location that can be reached by our helicopter,” the head of the search team, Col. Binsar Panjaitan, said in the statement, adding that bad weather on Friday hampered an immediate evacuation of the bodies.
The army helicopter lost radio contact with ground control minutes after taking off on a flight to carry supplies and troops from Oksibil district in Pegunungan Bintang regency to Sentani, near the provincial capital Jayapura, on June 28, 2019.
Military officials said the cause of the crash was still not yet known, while declining to comment on recent claims by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) separatist rebel group that they had downed the big helicopter.
Sebby Sambom, a spokesman for the rebels, told reporters earlier that they found the chopper’s wreckage on Feb. 4 and their forces had seized weapons from the crash site.
Dax Sianturi, a commander and spokesman for the Indonesian military in Papua, on Friday denied the rebels’ claims that they had looted weapons from among the dead soldiers.
“According to information from local figures, the weapons are mostly likely being kept by villagers in a nearby village not far from the crash site,” Sianturi told BenarNews via a text message.
Nine of the bodies of the dozen dead soldiers were identified by the nametags on their uniforms, Sianturi said, according to the Associated Press.
In other news out of Papua, a military tribunal this week sentenced an Indonesian soldier to life in prison after convicting him on charges of selling ammunition to the rebels.
The army serviceman, Wahyu Insyafiadi, received the sentence for selling 2,600 pieces of ammo, including bullets, to the rebel side, Agence France-Presse reported Friday.
Two other military personnel received jail sentences of 15 years and 30 months, respectively, for their roles in the ammunition sales, according to AFP.
The Papua region, which makes up the Indonesian half of New Guinea island, was formally incorporated into Indonesia in 1969, after a U.N.-administered ballot known as the Act of Free Choice. Many Papuans and rights groups said the vote was a sham because it involved only 1,000 people.
The Papua region, as it is known, has since been the scene of a low-level separatist insurgency. The region at the far eastern end of Indonesia is made up of Papua and West Papua provinces.
The Papua region, as it is known, has since been the scene of a low-level separatist insurgency. The region at the far eastern end of Indonesia is made up of Papua and West Papua provinces.
Air transport is vital in the largely jungle-clad region due to its limited road networks.
————————
3) Indonesia soldier jailed for aiding Papua rebels
By AFP
An Indonesian soldier has been jailed for life after being convicted of selling ammunition to rebels in the country’s restive Papua region.
The heavy sentence comes as Jakarta boosts its troop deployments to Papua, the scene of a decades-long separatist insurgency.
Soldier Wahyu Insyafiadi received the life term Wednesday for selling some 2,600 pieces of ammunition, including bullets, to rebels.
“(Insyafiadi) has tarnished the image of the Indonesian army,” presiding judge Muhammad Idris told a military court.
Two other military members were sentenced to two-and-a-half and 15 year sentences respectively for their role in the sales.
Papua is a mineral-rich former Dutch colony that shares an island border with independent Papua New Guinea.
Indonesia took it over in the 1960s following a vote to stay within the archipelago that was widely viewed as rigged.
Ethnically Melanesian, most Papuans are Christians who have few cultural links to Muslim-majority Indonesia.
----------------
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.