Papuan Students Say There Was A Repressive Action During Demonstration Security, Police Denied

Papuan students detained at Polda Metro Jaya/PHOTO: Rizky Adytia-VOI

JAKARTA - Dozens of Papuan students were detained at the Metro Jaya Police in the aftermath of a riot during demonstrations around the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The cause of the riot was said to be due to repressive actions from unscrupulous officers.

"A friend was beaten in the face until he bled. Some had their clothes torn off. Five people were injured", said one of Nico's students to reporters at Metro Jaya Police, Friday, March 11.

However, he did not specify the cause of the officers acting repressively. According to him, one of his colleagues fainted due to the actions of the officers.

"A woman was beaten until she fainted", he said.

In fact, Nico said that actually, the demonstration he was doing was a peaceful act. To reject the plan to expand six provinces in Papua.

"Our action is a peaceful protest against the division of Papua", said Nico.

Confirmed separately, the Head of Public Relations of the Metro Jaya Police, Commissioner E. Zulpan, denied Nico's statement that there was a repressive action from the officers. Because, based on monitoring, none of the members of the Police have committed violence.

"The police did not beat the demonstrators", said Commissioner Zulpan.

For information, Papuan students held a demonstration around the Ministry of Home Affairs office. This action follows the plan of the Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian, who will divide Papua Province into six administrative regions.

The six proposed provinces include Southwest Papua, West Papua, Central Papua, Central Mountains, South Papua, and Papua Tabi Saireri.