Indonesian authorities on Thursday detained and charged eight West Papuan students with treason for raising the banned Morning Star flag used by supporters of independence for the restive province, police said.
On Wednesday, students had gathered at a stadium in West Papua’s capital, Jayapura, to celebrate the anniversary of the region’s declaration of independence from colonial rule in 1961.
Local police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said the eight students were charged with organizing and attending an outlawed event, as well as producing materials promoting West Papuan independence.
Photo: AFP
“They showed banners, sang a song and shouted ‘Papuan independence’ during the march,” Kamal told reporters.
If found guilty of treason, the students could face life in prison.
Michael Hilman, a lawyer for the group, confirmed the arrests and said that other West Papuan students protesting on Wednesday in Bali and Ambon City were also harassed by police, but no further arrests were made.
Rights groups say that Jakarta is increasingly turning to treason accusations to stifle dissent, with more than 50 West Papuan rights advocates facing the charge in the past few years.
Among them are other advocates accused of displaying West Papua’s independence flag, which is banned in the world’s third-largest democracy.
The province shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, just north of Australia.
A former Dutch colony, West Papua declared independence in 1961, but neighboring Indonesia took control two years later promising an independence referendum.
The subsequent vote in favor of staying part of Indonesia, approved by the UN at the time, was widely considered a sham.
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