Armed group terrorize farmers in Papua

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 05/26/2009 1:17 PM | National

An armed group is terrorizing farmers in the Tanah Hitam hills in Abepura, Papua.

Muharang, one of the farmers, told reporters that a group of men armed with arrows and bows came to him while he was picking tomatoes. He ran away but was chased.

Indonesia dismisses troop revolt leader

JAKARTA (AFP) – The commander of an Indonesian army battalion which revolted against its officers in the restive province of Papua has been dismissed from his post, an army spokesman said Thursday.

The move came a day after about 200 troops rioted over their officers’ refusal to pay the full costs of returning a dead soldier’s body to his family in another province.

They fired shots in the air, stormed their commander’s office, smashed windows, threatened journalists and reportedly blocked roads during several hours of mayhem which has embarrassed the Indonesian military.

Home minister officiates two new regencies in West Papua

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 04/15/2009 11:41 AM | National

Home Minister Mardiyanto officiated two new regencies, Tambrauw and Maybrat in West Papua, on Wednesday in a ceremony at the ministry’s office in Jakarta.

The minister also inducted acting Tambrauw regent Menase Paa and acting Maybrat regent Bernard Sagrim, kompas.com reported.

Both regencies were established in October last year after the government and the House of representatives agreed to forming 12 new regencies and cities.

Sentani incident : Soldiers’ welfare needs attention

Rizal Sukma , JAKARTA | Tue, 05/05/2009 9:46 AM | Headlines

If a group of ordinary people went on a rampage, we would expect the police to handle the problem. But, when dozens of armed soldiers run amok, then we all have a problem. That was the problem when a number of soldiers from the Army’s Infantry Battalion 751 in Sentani, Papua, expressed their anger by staging a violent protest last week. During the incident, they destroyed infrastructure within the military compound and injured the deputy commander of the battalion.

Media reports suggested that the violent protest was triggered by the actions of the troops’ commander, Lt. Col. Lambok Sihotang, who had collected money from them to cover air transportation and funeral expenses for their fellow soldiers.

Army commences questioning over Papua military riot

The Jakarta Post, May 1, 2009

Cendrawasih Papua Military Police has begun questioning soldiers of Sentani army base in Jayapura, Papua, who were involved in a violent protest on Wednesday. Lt. Col. Susilo, chief spokesman of Papua Military Command, told Antara on Friday that the military police had questioned most of the soldiers from the base’s E Company.