Detik.com
- May 1, 2009
Gede
Suardana, Denpasar – Denpasar municipal police in Bali have taken two Papua
youths into custody who they suspect were planning to join May Day rallies in
order to call for a referendum in Papua.
Denpasar
police chief Assistant Superintendent Alit Widana said that the two youths were
picked up during a raid by police on Jl. Moh Yamin in Denpasar. The street is
the access road to the United State Consulate General on Jl. Hayamwuruk.
“Initially
there was a request for a permit by Papuan students in Denpasar to demonstrate
on Labour Day and we granted it. However we then got information that the
action would be used to [promote] Papuan issues”, said Widana.
Based on
this information, police organised a raid and succeeded in taking the two
youths into custody. The pair are currently being questioned by police.
“We
confiscated a banner from the pair that blasphemed Indonesia as a colonial
state. Meanwhile we gave the other Papuan students who really wanted to
demonstrate on labour day permission to continue their action at the Bajra
Sandi Monument Square,” said Widana. (djo/djo)
[Translated
by James Balowski.]
