Jayapura – Thousands of protesters who joined in solidarity with Papuan students held a peaceful demonstration urging the chief of the Southwest Papua Regional Police (Kapolda) and the chief of the Sorong City Municipal Police (Kapolresta) to investigate the violence allegedly committed by police officers against residents in Sorong City, Southwest Papua, during a riot there on August 27.
The demonstration took place in the area of the Abepura traffic circle in Abepura district, Jayapura city, Papua province, on Tuesday September 2. A total of 5,000 police personnel were deployed to secure the demonstration.
The rioting and vandalism in Sorong City broke out when four political prisoners or tapol were going to be transferred to Makassar, South Sulawesi, to undergo trial.
"Today, if there weren't problems, we wouldn't be here. But because there are problems, we're here. So, regarding the four [political] prisoners in Sorong, release them immediately. Don't chase people back into their homes", said Bedira Tabuni, one of the demonstrators.
Action coordinator Kamus Bayage said that the National Police chief must immediately order the Southwest Papua Kapolda and the Sorong Kapolresta to legally process the police officers suspected of committing crimes during the incident related to the transfer of the four political prisoners.
"The Southwest Papua Kapolda must immediately order the Southwest Papua Regional Police Propam [Professionalism and Security Affairs] and the Direskrimum [Directorate of Criminal Investigation] to arrest and legally prosecute the alleged arbitrary actions and (alleged) crimes committed by certain police officers against people in Sorong", he said.
The demonstrators also asked the Supreme Court to halt the legal process against the four political prisoners from Sorong, who have now been transferred to Makassar.
"We condemn the Southwest Papua governor's decision to order joint forces to conduct pursuits, arrests and fire teargas and bullets potentially resulting in civilian casualties", he said.
Meanwhile, Jayapura City District Police Chief (Kapolres) Senior Commissioner Fredrickus W.A. Mclarimboen, when met at the location of the demonstration, said that the action proceeded safely and smoothly, although traffic flow was disrupted.
"Today's action proceeded safely and orderly, although we saw some road disruption. But overall, the demonstration went well", said Mclarimboen.
Notes
The four Papuan political prisoners from the Federal State of the Republic of West Papua (NFRPB) were arrested on April 28 and subsequently charged with makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) and violations of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law for distributing letters to several government agencies in Southwest Papua asking for dialogue on resolving the conflict in Papua.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Ribuan Mahasiswa Papua Berdemontrasi Desak Polisi Usut Insiden Di Sorong".]
