Jakarta (AsiaNews) – The authorities released a group of Franciscan and Augustinian monks detained last Friday (9 Oct) at a peaceful protest in Abepura, Papua. The religious had been taken into custody at 2.40 pm in front of town’s Good Shepherd Catholic Church.
Scores of religious as well as human rights advocates were demonstrating to demand justice for a student from Painai, whose murder on 8 December 2014 remains unsolved. When police intervened, they took away a dozen people.
Abeth You, a Catholic journalist who was covering the protest, said that police seized his camera when he was taking pictures of Fr Dorman Skukubun OFM’s arrest.
In addition to Fr Skukubun, police took into custody Fr Sorefus Pangguem OSA as well as other Franciscan novices, namely Frs Benyamin Tanang, Gaspar Bahala and Didimus.
The protest took place because the demands made to the government by the Justice and Peace Commission and human rights lawyers had fallen on deaf ears.
A few hours after the arrest, all the religious were released. Fr Yulianus Pawika OFM told journalists that protesters came from many walks of life, and had no "political intentions”. Instead, their action “was designed to give a voice to our heart and conscience. The Franciscans came to Papua in 1936,” he added, “out of love for the people, not the state."
Indonesia proclaimed its independence from the Netherlands on 17 August 1945. Papua was the only province to remain under Dutch control. In 1969, Indonesia annexed it following a referendum.
Although acknowledged by the United Nations, the referendum remains controversial among Papuans with many convinced that the voting process was rigged by the Indonesians. Local separatist movements do not recognise the result.