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.]