Tria Sutrisna, Jakarta — Human rights activists Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti are ready to face trial on charges of defamation against Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
This was conveyed by Azhar’s lawyer Nurkholis Hidayat in response to a statement by the Jakarta Chief Public Prosecutor (Kejati DKI) who said that the case dossier has been declared complete.
“Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, God willing Haris and Fatia are ready to face trial. If it [the case] really is presented before a court”, said Hidayat when sought for confirmation on Tuesday February 21.
The Jakarta Chief Public Prosecutor (Kejati) earlier stated that the dossier on the defamation case against Pandjaitan has been handed over by Metro Jaya regional police (Polda) and is complete.
Jakarta Chief Public Prosecutor information division head, Ade Sofyan, said that the dossier in the case against the suspects Azhar and Maulidiyanti has already been examined by a team of prosecutors.
“It was P21 [declared complete] on February 3, 2023”, said Sofyan when sought for confirmation on Monday February 20.
Currently, the Jakarta Chief Public Prosecutor is coordinating with the Metro Jaya police to complete the second stage in the process, namely the transfer of the suspects and the evidence.
“As to the time of the second stage of the transfer this is being coordinated with the Metro Jaya Polda. In principle, the Kejati DKI is ready for stage two”, said Sofyan.
On March 19, 2022, the Metro Jaya regional police declared Azhar and Maulidiyanti suspects in a case of defamation against Pandjaitan.
The two were summoned for follow up questioning as suspects on November 1, 2022, almost seven months since the their initial questioning as suspects.
The case began following a discussion between Azhar and Maulidiyanti on the NgeHAMtam talk show titled “There is Lord Luhut behind the Economic Relations-Military Operations in Intan Jaya!! There are also State Intelligence Agency Generals!!”. The video of the discussion was subsequently uploaded on Azhar’s YouTube channel.
In the video, the two cite Pandjaitan as “playing a role” in mining businesses in Intan Jaya, Papua.
In a report by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and several other groups, four mining companies in Intan Jaya are alleged to be involved in these businesses, namely PT Freeport Indonesia, PT Madinah Qurrata’Ain, PT Nusapati Satria and PT Kotabara Miratama.
Two of these four companies, namely PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Madinah Qurrata’Ain, are gold mining concessions identified as having a relationship with the military and police, as well as Pandjaitan.
There are at least three senior officials with relationships with PT Madinah Qurrata’Ain. They are retired police general Rudiard Tampubolon, retired military general Paulus Prananto and Pandjaitan, also a retired military general.
Pandjaitan denied the accusations and issued a summons against Azhar and Maulidiyanti asking them to apologise. The request however was not fulfilled so Pandjaitan decided to report the two to the police on September 22, 2021.
Pandjaitan said that he decided to report them to the police because their statements in the video tarnished his and his family’s good name.
“Yeah, because (Haris and Fatia) have been (summoned) twice, [but] don’t want to apologise, I have to defend my good name, my children, grandchildren, right”, said Pandjaitan at the time.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Haris Azhar dan Fatia Siap Hadapi Sidang Pencemaran Nama Baik Luhut”.]
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Any human rights issues in West Papua must not be overshadowed by the fact that the country remains under the sovereignty of Indonesia.
These were the sentiments expressed by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape at a news conference in Suva yesterday.
“West Papua has been an issue that has resurfaced many times in the margins of PIF (Pacific Island Forum) meetings and engagements,” Mr Marape said.
“From a PNG context, we sympathise with Melanesians on the other side — but there are more Melanesians on the other side than just West Papua.
“From my indications I’ve received possibly over 10 million Melanesians living also in Indonesian sovereignty.
“At the moment West Papua, remains for us a part and parcel of Indonesia.”
Mr Marape said any human rights issues in West Papua would be dealt from a human rights context but in terms of sovereignty, West Papua “remains part of Indonesia”.
“We don’t want to upset the balance. Inside PNG right now we have sovereignty issues. We have no right to talk about other countries sovereignty issues as we control our sovereignty matters.”
Mr Rabuka echoed similar sentiments.
“We have Micronesian communities in Fiji, we have the Melanesian communities in Fiji and their original home countries now respect the sovereignty of Fiji,” the Fijian PM said.
“But I’m sure they have direct people-to-people contact with them to enhance their livelihood here and also promote or continue to promote their culture because of their heritage and the same thing with the Melanesians of Indonesia.
“We must respect the sovereignty issue there because it could also impact us if we try to deal with them as a separate nation within a sovereign nation so we must respect that.”
A West Papua delegation, led by United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) president Benny Wenda is in the country, seeking inclusion into the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).
Jayapura, Jubi – The Syena Ahoro Papua (SAPA) Foundation held a focus group discussion at the Papua Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDM) Hall in Jayapura City on Monday, February 20, 2023. The discussion was held to map the needs and development of human resources in Papua.
The discussion was part of a human resource development program through the education sector under the auspices of BPSDM Papua and James Cook University in Singapore. It was attended by a number of stakeholders, including the GKI Synod in Papua Land, the Papua Christian Education Foundation, and the Ottow and Geissler Foundation.
Chairman of SAPA Foundation Christywella Saroy said the discussion mapped the Human Development Index data in Papua to develop a human resource development program with BPSDM Papua and James Cook University in Singapore.
“We chose James Cook University because it is quite close to Indonesia, and one of the best universities in the world,” Saroy told Jubi.
Saroy said that in 2022, SAPA Foundation sent eight people to study at James Cook University, and five others at Monash University in Australia. She hopes that the students will be able to return home and contribute to building human resources in Papua.
Meanwhile, secretary of the Department of Human Resources and Culture of the GKI in Papua Land Rev. Samuel Koirewoa said the development of human resources in Papua required the synergy of various parties. According to him, the cooperation between SAPA Foundation and James Cook University is an important step to build awareness about human resource development in Papua.
He said it takes a long struggle to develop human resources in Papua. The struggle must be balanced with concrete actions, motivation, and correct work, so that the ideals of superior Papuan human resources can be realized.
“Schools in villages are still very concerning today. Teachers are absent in many of the schools,” he said.
According to him, the presence of government partners through foundations concerned with human resource development needs support to encourage the acceleration of change that the country envisions. (*)
After the West Papua National Liberation Army, the armed wing of OPM (Free Papua movement), burned a small plane and kidnapped its New Zealand pilot on February 7, 2023. The dark clouds that sealed this frontier war opened to the outside world. Across the globe, media outlets shared this information, causing people to condemn this act as evil terrorism, while others view it as stratagem used by OPM fighters to open deaf ears of the world’s communities. But at least this incident exposed a half-century-old war waged by the Indonesian military government against the original Papuans.
After the kidnapping, Egianus Kogoya, OPM TPNPB, and foreign intruders living off this ancient land’s lifeblood became embroiled in a world of contradictory morality, ethics, and justice. There are those who regard Egianus Kogoya as a hero for the Papuans and on the other hand, there are those who view him as a criminal, depending on who is telling the story and why.
‘Metaphysics of a hero’ is a topic I wish to discuss in the following paragraphs. It may challenge your morals and ethical comfort zone and perhaps allow you to see the larger picture of human suffering that you may not have been aware of. It may help us to understand whether and how such suffering can be caused by or linked to global civilisational greed and power structures – sucking up the innocent blood of the oppressed; justified by its unconscious pathological notions of justice, morality, and peace. In a world like this (oppressor and oppressed), how can we distinguish between good and bad morality and virtue? Who defines their meaning and value and who determines how they apply to a society that is divided by racism, hatred, and injustice?
It is, therefore, essential that we understand how and why concepts of ‘morality, justice, and peace’ function in a world where one group of society oppresses another, and how and why someone like Egianus Kogoya emerges and responds to such conditions in the manner he does, and the actions condoned by some and praised by others.
The following paragraphs will be a brief discussion of how morality and virtue operate (within or apply) to human beings between the oppressors and oppressed. The kind of morality and virtue a hero must possess to meet these challenges, and what it costs to be a hero. As a conclusion, I will resolve whether Egianus Kogoya is a hero or villain in West Papua’s National Liberation story, and how innocent individuals like Philip became as academic, Camellia Webb-Gannon describes as a ‘pawn’ in a conflict that can only be resolved by international engagement.
Please note the following: Please send an email or leave a comment to the author if you are offended, disagree, have questions, comments, or critiques regarding this piece. We always welcome constructive criticism.
The tragedy of morality and virtue
Being a moral person does not imply being a good human, being a good human does not imply being a moral person, being a harmless, humble person does not imply being a virtuous human being, and being virtuous does not imply being a harmless human. A good person is not necessarily right, and the person who is right is not necessarily good. A hero is a person who, by virtue of his or her heroic qualities, transcends the boundaries of human dogmatic morality beyond the realm of heaven and hell – reconciling both dimensions to redeem the torments of both worlds through their sacrifice. It is for this reason that a hero’s journey is always filled with betrayal, rejection, error, tragedy, and compassion. A young Papuan figure like Egianus Kogoya would make a compelling candidate for a misunderstood, tragic, and yet a heroic figure in a liberation story. Whenever a figure such as he emerges, we suddenly become a kind of judge, ready to convey moral judgment without understanding the larger story of what factors led to the development of such a particular character.
Tragic soul of a hero
The soul of a hero transcends human made dogmatic morals and virtues protected by institutionalised religions and governmentality of the police, military, and administrations. The heroic figure is the one brake that all these stagnated, moral boundaries create to give new life to the old and the dead. Heroic figures have their own notions of morality and virtue, which are not always accepted by societal institutionalised moralities. The hero has a distinct self-definition, but often this definition is not clear within the standardised boundaries of societal morality. The hero is constantly at a crossroads between the joy of heaven and the sorrow of hell – he fights his war at the crossroads, on the path of this dualistic cosmic war of light and darkness. His spirit is the most joyful yet tormented of all people. He sees both the ideal of the heavenly dimension above him and the tragedy of hell below him. He is the anguished soul in these two dimensions whose life is full of episodes of error and tragedy as he continues his quest to manifest both dimensions to the realm of celestial heaven and earthly creatures.
A hero’s pain is the corridor through which the heavenly realm feels the pain of earthly matters. In other words, a hero’s pain connects humans to God. A hero reveals what is uncharacteristic of God, such as suffering. This is why a hero’s soul is regarded as Gods’ tears.
Since God is dispassionate, serene, eternal, and with nothing that bothers him; man is passionate, in pain, suffering, tormented, and suffers destitution, humiliation, weakness, and doubt. Without the presence of his own heroic son or daughter, who will allow God to have that deep and profound experience of the nightmare, horror, and depths of destitution and deprivation inherent to the human being? God is not able to comprehend passion, pain, and loss, and he cannot understand the essence of man. God is not interested in prosperous and successful people, and their accomplishments are nothing compared to the successes of God himself.
Yet, the sufferings of man, the anguish he endures, the skirmish with the fate he faces, remains an enigma to God. Despite this, God may wish to transcend himself, his own dispassion, his own bliss, and taste destitution – i.e., to transcend the absence of bliss to experience suffering and affliction.
A hero is one who allows God to experience pain, and thereby allows the human being to experience bliss, greatness, immortality, and glory. Consequently, heroism can be seen as an ontological and simultaneously anthropological instance, a vertical line along which the divine and the human (or heavenly and earthly) can engage in a dialogue.
Wherever there is a hero, there is always tragedy. To be a hero, one must carry within oneself misery, agony, rupture, and tragedy. There are no such things as happy, fortunate heroes, because all heroes are necessarily unhappy and unfortunate in some way. It is unfortunate misfortune that befalls the hero. Why? To be both eternal and temporal, dispassionate and suffering, heavenly and earthly, is an unbearable experience for anyone, a condition that no one would wish upon their enemy. Consider the heroic journeys of the Biblical patriarchs and matriarchs, as well as those of Jesus and all his martyred disciples. In one way or another, Abraham, Moses, famous King David, Solomon, Daniel, Nehemiah, and Samson have all fallen and yet risen through pain and suffering from their shortcomings.
It is these contradictory personalities and characters, and the enigma of heavenly ascetics and earthly demons that keeps God awake at night. In a strange and deep metaphysical realm beyond the comprehension of earthly minds, God speaks to them, and they speak to God. There is something very uniquely special about them, as if a piece of heaven is instilled in their hearts that longs to restore God’s order on earth.
Likewise, there are no happy monks or saints, nor are there any revolutionary leaders who have joined the camp of heroism, such as Patrice Émery Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Malcom X, Ho Chi Minh, Marcus Garvey, Steve Biko, Arnold Aap and so on. They are all deeply unfortunate on a human level. They have all fallen and risen in different ways, depending on what they stood for, how they fell, rose and why. Nevertheless, they are blessed according to another heavenly account. In the sermon on the Mount, there are those who mourn the persecuted, those who suffer slander, and those who are hungry and thirsty. It is the unfortunate one who are blessed.
A hero’s body contains thousands of scars, and bruises. Thousands of traps are always placed by his earthly enemies to obstruct his path, and thousands of times the life of the hero is always at risk. They faced tens of thousands of problems, thousands of enemies marching towards them, thousands of demons trying to destroy them, and tens of thousands plots designed against them. His life is spent on the thin line between the living and the dead. He has nothing to lose, and that makes him more dangerous than ordinary souls.
Mostly, heroes never think of themselves; they live for something else and someone else, everything else and everyone else – always something greater than themselves. A hero’s aura is like the gravity of a tornado, swirling everything in his path into a vortex of crisis, decision, choice, tragedy, and death, whilst simultaneously creating new hope and a new life. As he stands alone in the vortex, thousands of tears of fallen human children cling to his soul. At the moment of solitude, the hero cries out for heartfelt suffering and injustice and elevates the heavenly ideals that he pursues.
A hero does not reside in a comfortable home, he is always on the move to confront the unknown, shedding light into the darkness of taboo and fear, for that is where the hero confronts the shadows, the villains and his enemies. A hero’s essence is interwoven with the chemistry of heaven and earth, making it difficult for the children of earth to comprehend. This has led to misunderstandings and misjudgement of his heroism, ultimately resulting in his tragic end. In one moment, the hero is celebrated with honour and glory by thousands and in the next moment the same mob cheers for his execution. That is why Jesus was welcomed at the gate of Jerusalem as a King with the song, Hosanna – Hosanna, but then a few days later was executed.
A hero’s life is characterised by the duality of ‘love and hate’, ‘praise and betrayal’, ‘acceptance and rejection’. This duality is, in the most profound metaphysical sense, the essence of the cosmos itself – ‘of light and darkness, of God and Satan, of order and chaos, of life and death’. The eternal cry and joy of heaven and hell torment the hero because he sees a cosmic war being waged while his earthly humans are blind to it.
In the deepest metaphysical sense, Egianus Kogoya embodies each of these heroic attributes. He carries the agony and suffering of his people and yet is one of the most misunderstood, criminalised figures in the earthly realm. In the spiritual realm, however, he is a hero devoted to fighting deep-seated lies, deceit, betrayal, and criminality perpetrated by fallen children of the earthly dimension. Through him, from the perspective of metaphysics of heroism, God feels the pain of his tortured creation and he opens deaf ears, blind eyes, and unconscious souls of humankind.
Egianus Kogoya: A Papuan Hero
Egianus Kogoya
Egianus Kogoya and his fellow OPM soldiers are a generation born in a warzone, whose entire existence is shaped by war. Papuans of this generation, particularly from the region where Kogoya comes from are some of the most traumatised and war-torn regions in West Papua. Most people are unaware that this was a war waged by the Indonesian Government in collaboration with internment actors against the original Papuans. The UN played a key role in this tragedy.
Although Egianus Kogoya has been labelled a criminal, a terrorist, rebellious, and a sociopath, he is a hero in the West Papuan liberation story, because truth and God are infallible figureheads of the cosmic war against the darkness, often on the side of those being oppressed.
’I took [the pilot] hostage for Papua independence, not for food or drinks,’ Egianus Kogoya said in one of the videos, in which he appears alongside Mehrtens. Here, Kogoya reveals two opposing dimensions: Food and drinks representing the earthly dimension, which possesses characteristics of temporary decay, material, and corruption, and on the other Independence, which is transcendental idea, unmaterial, noble and the eternal spirit of God that yearns for the liberation of his creation cruelty. A similar longing for freedom for the oppressed that led Moses to kill the Egyptian slave guard and flee into the desert to commune with God in a deep metaphysical realm to develop strategies for total liberation of human bondage. In the eyes of the Imperial Egyptian morality, Moses was a traitor and a murderer, but in the eyes of God, Moses was the chosen warrior and a hero who was misunderstood and rejected by his own people.
At the deepest metaphysical realm, however, Moses’ heartbeat was the scared corridor through which God felt the pain of the oppressed and enslaved.
Egianus Kogoya is the resurrected spirit being of the ancient archaic spiritual warriors – the Autochthonous – fighting against the wicked spirits of fallen men. The spirits and forces that threaten to annihilate West Papua.
Philip Mehrtens: A tragic hero in West Papua’s Liberation story
Tragically, the New Zealand pilot has now become part of Kogoya’s heroic journey in West Papua’s liberation story. His family and friends are traumatised, mourning, and worried. They may build resentment against Egianus, his army and the Papuan people. On an earthly level, Papuans (those on the side of West Papua’s redemptive story) sympathise; they feel their pain in this tragedy, but on a transcendental level, Phillip became a hero in this tragic circumstance, by opening the door for the world to see West Papua’s story. Egianus’ action might be condemned or disapproved by the world, but at least Indonesia’s hidden war against the original Papuans has been exposed. He has made a heroic contribution by bringing the plight of the Papuan people to the attention of the world.
Philip is currently embroiled in this prolonged conflict, and it is not yet clear what Egianus and his OPM soldiers will do, nor what the Indonesian government and the international community will do in response. One thing we are aware of, however, is that the stakes are high, as are the demands made for his safe release by the West Papua Liberation Army.
Do you consider Egianus Kogoya to be a hero or a villain in the liberation of West Papua? I would like to leave that question to you.
Jayapura, Jubi – In addition to Paro District, there were four other districts that were affected following the burning of Susi Air aircraft and the hostage-taking of Susi Air pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens, 37, a New Zealand national, on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Residents of Yuguru, Geselama, Yenggelo and Mapenduma districts fled their hometown.
Chairman of the Synod of Kemah Injil Church (KINGMI) in Papua Rev. Tilas Moom said the community’s response to flee stemmed from past trauma involving armed conflict between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB).
“Our people, both from Kingmi in Papua and GKII, are scattered in those villages and districts. When they heard the news about the pilot taken hostage, they knew they had to run to a safe area. They walk through the forests to the capital of Kenyam or to Wamena in Timika. In the past, there was also a hostage-taking and military operations in Mapenduma in 1996, the houses of our people were destroyed, gardens were destroyed, pigs died. Churches were also destroyed. Our pastors and parishioners were also shot and killed. That experience made our people always afraid so they would run to other areas, such as Timika or Wamena,” said Rev. Tilas Moom in Jayapura on Friday, February 17, 2023.
Tilas said that based on a report from the Coordinator of the Kingmi Church in Nduga Regency, Rev. Eliazer Tabuni, his party was having problems monitoring and recording church members from other districts who had left their places a few days after the hostage-taking of the Susi Air pilot.
Tilas explained that people fled to three destinations. First, residents of Paro District went to Kenyam. “For this route, they leave Paro before they can use cars and helicopter pickups. Those people are now already in evacuation posts and family homes in Kenyam,” he explained, adding that the second and third routes were from Paro to Agimuga for those who wanted to go to Timika, and from Paro to Mapenduma for those who went to Wamena.
“There’s no news whether they have arrived. Our coordinator is standing by in Kenyam, waiting for news from the displaced people,” said Tilas.
Transportation, communication and security constraints
The Church admitted to experiencing obstacles in directly monitoring the people of the Kingmi in Papua and the GKII who were displaced.
“Air and land transportation was cut off and our communication network does not work,” said Tilas.
In addition, Tilas said that his coordinator and a number of pastors in the region could not travel to the villages on foot because there was no guarantee of security and safety.
“Our servants of God are actually ready to go to the villages but are worried that there is no guarantee of safety, especially with the armed group controlling the forest. Therefore, we are just waiting for news in the capital,” he said.
Cross Denomination
Tilas, who is the highest leader of the Kingmi Church, explained that Nduga Regency and its affected districts are the base of the people of Kingmi and GKII. Even though the two are different denominations, Tilas hopes that all parties see this issue as a common concern.
“Helping God’s people does not look at church denominations and religions. All civilians must be protected. We must protect all people and take care of them together,” said Tilas.
Similarly, the Secretary of the Kingmi Synod in Papua, Rev. Dominggus Pigay hopes that attention and monitoring will be carried out by all parties to the Nduga case.
“The recent case of plane-burning and hostage-taking actually did not just happen yesterday. There have been problems including human rights violations that have befallen our people for years. Many problems have never been resolved that have cost the lives of Papuans because of the armed conflict between TNI and TPNPB. We ask the commanders to ensure that our people do not fall victim again,” he said.
Dominggus said the community had always been a victim of security and political issues between Papua and Jakarta. To minimize this problem, he said the Kingmi Church supported a persuasive approach and negotiations to free the New Zealand pilot in order to reduce violence and human rights violations.
“We hope there will be no more shooting, no more helicopters flying and dropping bombs over the villages of our people in Ndugama. When we hear the government and security forces are making persuasive efforts to talk, we think this is good. Hopefully, our people can return to the village to live in peace, go to church without fear and go to the garden freely,” he said.
Previously, commander of Yonif Raider 514/SY Lt. Col. Inf Rinto Wijaya sent two joint TNI-police evacuation teams led by Lt. Inf Anggika on Monday, February 13, 2023, to help move the people evacuating in Kenyam river.
According to the Nduga Administration, there are 167 residents of Paro who have walked more than seven days without adequate logistics. In Kenyam, the displaced people were given initial health an initial health check at Kenyam Hospital and given medical treatment.(*)
PCC Statement Visit by Benny Wenda, United Liberation Movement of West Papua. The Pacific Conference of Churches has concluded a series of meetings with Benny Wenda and other representatives of the united liberation movement of West Papua during his visit to Fiji. We reiterated our support for the ULMWP in its continued bid for the self-determination of the West Papuan people and their desire for an end to the human rights abuse at the hands of Indonesian security forces. The PCC continues to support the ULMWP’s bid for membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group along the lines that the Kanak Socialist National Liberation front (FLNKS) in Kanaky – New Caledonia was admitted to the regional bloc. The PCC renews its position that the ULMWP must be consulted by governments, the United Nations and the European Union on West Papua issues as a recognised representative of the Papuan people. With the endorsement of pacific church leaders, the PCC calls for a boycott on the purchase of all Indonesian products sold in the pacific and engagement in activities and programmes organised or supported by the Indonesian government, as a means to draw attention to the plight of the Papuan people. The ULMWP delegation was hosted to a lunch by the PCC for a moment of prayer and fellowship during their schedule of meeting other Fijian dignitaries in Suva. Reverend James Bhagwan General Secretary SUVA FEBRUARY 20, 2023 Moderator Rev. Dr. Tevita Havea G.P.O Box 208, Suva. 4 Thurston Street, Suva, Fiji Tel: (679) 3311 277 / 3302332 Fax: (679) 3303 205 e-mail: pacific@pcc.org.fj General Secretary Rev. James Bhagwan Pacific Conference of Churches
Dian Erika Nugraheny, Jakarta — President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo says that the Indonesian automobile industry has experienced significant growth, and as a consequence, traffic has become congested in several big cities.
“Our automotive industry has very bright prospects. Every year it grows significantly. In 2022 it grew by 18 percent, increasing on the previous year”, said Widodo when giving greetings at the opening of the 2023 Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) at the JIexpo in Kemayoran, Jakarta, on Thursday February 16.
Aside from this, said Widodo, the sale of cars in 2022 was recorded at
1,048,000 units, while the sale of motorcycles experienced a 3.3 percent growth, increasing to a figure of 5,221,000 units in 2022.
“As a consequence, we now have traffic congestion everywhere. In Jakarta it’s congested. I went to Surabaya [in East Java] it was congested, to Bandung [West Java] where it was congested, finally to Medan [North Sumatra] where it was congested”, said Widodo.
“Because indeed the sale of cars reached 1,048,000 units and motorcycles
5,221,000 units, a figure that’s very big indeed”, he reiterated.
Therefore the former mayor of the Central Java city of Solo is inviting all automotive industries in the country to orientate more towards exports so that congestion doesn’t occur in Indonesian cities.
According to Widodo, the number of motor vehicles exported by Indonesia rose to almost 600,000 units between 2021 and 2022.
“But we were still beaten by Thailand. I want to again push for higher exports and for them to increase every year”, said Widodo.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was
Head of Operation Peace Cartenz 2023, Kombes Faizal Ramadani in Jayapura City, Tuesday (7/3/2023). – Jubi/Alexander Loen
Jayapura, Jubi – Head of Cartenz Peace Operation 2023 Sr. Comr. Faizal Ramadani says negotiations to free New Zealand pilot of Susi Air, Philip Mark Mehrtens, who was currently held hostage by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) led by Egianus Kogoya, had not been fruitful. However, Faizal emphasized that the security forces would continue the negotiation process.
According to Faizal, efforts to negotiate the release of Philip Mark Mehrtens by the local government, religious leaders, and Nduga community leaders were rejected by TPNPB. “We haven’t received the news directly, but we received information that there was a rejection,” said Faizal in Jayapura City on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
“The whereabouts of Egianus’ group and Mehrtens are not yet known as the situation in the field is very dynamic. But we will keep looking,” he added.
Earlier on February 7, TPNPB burned a plane belonging to Susi Air after landing and dropping off passengers at Paro Airstrip, Nduga Regency, Mountainous Papua Province. They also took hostage the pilot of the plane, Philip Mark Mehrtens.
Jayapura, Jubi – The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) of Tolikara Region in Mountainous Papua Province is urging young Papuans not to apply as members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Police.
“I’m speaking to the young generation of Papua, especially in Tolikara. Do not submit under the Indonesian colonial rulers by joining the TNI and Police, the State Intelligence Agency, and the Strategic Intelligence Agency to defend the Republic of Indonesia,” KNPB Tolikara chariman Nalkos Kosaya said in a written statement on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
According to Kosaya, young people who are the future of the Papuan nation must be actively involved in the struggle for Papuan independence. “There is no future for the Papuan nation within the framework of the Republic of Indonesia. KNPB urges all young Papuans not to join the TNI and police, even if offered a position and money. It must be rejected for the sake of self-respect,” he said.
He said if Papuans got into the security forces, they would become a tool to hunt or arrest Papuans. “Therefore the youth must refuse to submit to the colonial system, then rise up to fight to save the homeland and nation of West Papua which is heading towards extinction,” he said. (*)
Lawyer team and three treason suspects – Doc of lawyers
Manokwari, Jubi – Three suspects of treason, Hellezvred Bezaliel Soleman Waropen, Andreas Sanggenafa, and Kostan Karlos Bonai have been handed over by Manokwari Police investigators to the Public Prosecutor of the Manokwari District Attorney’s Office on Thursday, February 16, 2023.
The delegation was written in a letter submitted by the head of the Manokwari District Attorney, Teguh Suhendro, to the head of the Makassar Class I A Penitentiary.
The three were named suspects by the police for allegedly committing treason when holding a commemoration for West Papua’s independence on November 19, 2022 in Ambon Village, West Manokwari District, Manokwari Regency.
“Today we handed over three suspects of treason to the Manokwari District Attorney’s Office,” said Manokwari Police’s head of Criminal Investigation Unit First Insp. Arifal Utama.
The three were detained at the Manokwari Police detention center for 120 days before being handed over.
Head of Intelligence of the Manokwari District Attorney’s Office Ihsan Husni also confirmed the delegation. “The police has handed over the files. The suspects will be tried in Makassar Class 1 A District Court, South Sulawesi, as per the Supreme Court’s decision,” said Ihsan.
Meanwhile, Yan Warinussy, legal counsel of the treason suspects, questioned the delegation of case files. “What is the legal reason that prompted the Manokwari District Attorney’s Office to transfer the case files to be tried in Makassar?” said Yan Warinussy.
According to Yan, his party did not find any fundamental reason or factor that encouraged the transfer of case files. He said a trial in Manokwari would not endanger public order in the city of Manokwari and its surroundings.
“That is why we suspect discrimination and racism behind the scenario to bring our three clients along with their case files to be tried in Makassar,” he said.
Yan asserted that his three clients were ordinary civilians, unarmed, with their families in Manokwari. “Most of them are also over 50 years old. From either law or human rights perspective, it is not fair to take them far from their home only to be tried for alleged actions that have never caused any turmoil in Manokwari and West Papua Province even until today,” he said.
The three suspect were charged with Article 106 jo Article 55 or Article 110 paragraph 2 to 1 jo 106 of the Criminal Code. (*)
Australia West Papua Association Adelaide 