“We have just received urgent news from West Papua that 200 people have been arrested and 26 tortured by Indonesian police, two days before Indonesia hosts the World Press Freedom Day in Jakarta,” the Free West Papua Campaign said on May 1.
It said at least one journalist was arrested and beaten during the crackdown, shining a light on Indonesia’s double standards on press freedom.
West Papuan journalist Yance Wenda has released photos of his injuries he says he suffered after he was beaten by police officers in Jayapura.
In separate incidents, two West Papuan people were reportedly stabbed by the Indonesian military in Paniai on May 1.
[Benny Wenda, a spokesperson for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, is addressing a public meeting on May 17, 5pm in the New Law School Lecture Theatre 106, Sydney University. Organised by Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance.]