JAILED FOR RAISING THE WEST PAPUAN FLAG

West Papua: On Tuesday August 8, three Papuan students, Yoseph Ernesto Matuan, Devio Tekege and Ambrosius Fransiskus Elopere, were sentenced to 10 months in prison for treason.

Source: https://jubi.id/tanah-papua/2023/divonis-makar-3-mahasiswa-dipidana-penjara-10-bulan/

Yet all they had done was raise the Morning Star flag, the symbol of the independence struggle in West Papua, occupied by Indonesia since 1963. Abundant in natural resources, Papua is an Eldorado for multinationals. Some twenty major companies are already operating there, causing untold ecological disasters. 

For the Papuans, the fight for independence is a matter of life and death. Under Indonesian rule, they became a minority in their country. Today, they represent barely 50% of the population. In twenty years' time, they risk disappearing like the Aborigines in Australia. Faced with this threatening situation, some Papuans are taking up arms, but most are fighting non-violently. Flag-raising is the most common method. 

This was popularized in July 1998 on the island of Biak: the Papuan flag was raised on a water tower and a thousand people gathered around it to defend it for several days, before they were brutally shot down by Indonesian soldiers. An estimated 150 people killed, not counting those arrested and tortured in custody. Its initiator, Filep Karma, often referred to as Papua's Nelson Mandela, spent 15 years in prison. He was found dead on Jayapura beach on November 1, 2022. 

Although located just 250 km north of Australia, West Papua is rarely highlighted by the mainstream media. Geostrategic stakes, arms sales and the lure of profit know how to accommodate, if necessary, with serious attacks on humanity!