KKB Spread Propaganda, Head Of Papua Paluga Tribe Affirms No Burning Of Houses And Churches

TIMIKA - A religious figure who also doubles as the Head of the Paluga Tribe, Evangelist Yohan Dewelek, in Ilaga Utara District, Puncak Regency, Papua, denied the information that stated that there were burning of people's houses and church buildings in the area. The news of this arson was published in the propaganda media of the Papuan armed group.

Evangelicals stated that the pictures of burning people's houses and church buildings in Paluga Village that were scattered on online and social media were misleading information.

This affirmation was conveyed when met by the Deputy Head of the Nemangkawi Public Relations Task Force, AKBP DR Arief Fajar Satria, and the Chief of the Puncak Police, Commissioner Polidi I Nyoman Punia, in Ilaga, Wednesday, May 19.

"That's not true, there were no houses that were burned like the widely circulated pictures," he said.

Evangelist added that the situation in his village is currently quite safe, there is no shooting contact between TNI and police personnel and armed groups.

"Moreover, if it is said that the Indonesian military bombed people's houses in Paluga so that they all burned down, that is simply not true," he said.

Evangelicals specifically visited the Puncak Police Headquarters in Ilaga to give a complete report on the real situation in Paluga Village.

The Nemangkawi Task Force Analyst Team has traced the digital footprint of the images circulating widely in the world of social media and the armed group's propaganda media.

It is known that the images were previously uploaded by the TPNPB on April 2, 2019 in the context of the group's propaganda interests.

The Head of the Nemangkawi Public Relations Task Force, Police Commissioner Iqbal Alqudussy, hopes that the media and the public will not spread false, provocative nuances whose sources and credibility cannot be accounted for.