6 Oct 2013

West Papuans leave Australian consulate

4:10 pm on 6 October 2013

Three West Papuan activists have been convinced to leave Australia's consulate in Bali ahead of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit.

AAP reports that the trio - Rofinus Yanggam, Markus Jerewon and Yuvensius Goo - departed just a few hours after they scaled a wall into the mission.

"We can confirm that three individuals from Indonesia's Papua provinces delivered a protest letter at the Australian Consulate-General in Bali this morning to Australia's Consul-General," a spokesperson from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

"The three men left the consulate voluntarily before 7am (Bali time)."

The embarrassing security breach came ahead of Mr Abbott's arrival for the APEC leaders summit on Sunday.

The activists were calling for international journalists to be allowed into the troubled Papuan provinces and for the release of political prisoners from Indonesian jails.

In a letter addressed to the Australian people, they said they wanted Mr Abbott, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US Secretary of State John Kerry to stand up for Papuan rights.

The Alliance of Papuan Students issued a statement saying the men wanted the release of at least 55 political prisoners jailed in several prisons in Papua, especially political prisoner Filep Karma, jailed for 15 years in Abepura prison.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon quickly became involved in the case, saying it would put the trio's lives "at great risk" if they were expelled from the consulate.

It's unclear where the men went after leaving the mission.