14 Jul 2017

Indonesia says mass Papuan arrest claim is wrong

8:33 am on 14 July 2017
Indonesian police at a demonstration in the Papuan region.

Indonesian police at a demonstration in the Papuan region. Photo: Supplied/ Whens Tebay

The Indonesia government says claims of mass arrests of West Papuans in the past two weeks are wrong.

Earlier this week the Australia West Papua Association called for Canberra to press Jakarta over the arrests in the city of Nabire of about 150 Papuans, mostly members of the pro-independence West Papua National Committee, or KNPB.

But a statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Wellington says these arrests did not happen.

It says only one KNPB sympathiser was arrested on July 1st and released the next day.

The statement says two other Papuans were detained on 2 July and held for questioning.

It statement confirms a demonstration at the police station over the arrest of these two men but notes that by July 7th the KNPB members were all returned to where they had come from after they had signed a declaration that they would not violate law and order.