Indonesian police have arrested 13 Papuans after they conducted a rally along with dozens others, celebrating the anniversary of what they claimed as the 48th Papuan Independence Day, a local police spokesman said on Tuesday.
The police spokesman Agus Rianto said that the rally was held without a permit from police. "They have violated the country's law by holding a rally with out a permit, now we are questioning 13 of them," he told. The spokesman said that earlier the police had tried to order the mass, but they rejected. "This small group of people claimed that they are celebrating the anniversary of Papuan independence, which is actually the claim was not true," he said.
The Free Papua Movement has long engaged in rebellious activities in Indonesia. They have used both guerrilla and diplomatic ways to achieve their goal. On guerrilla way, the group seems targeting a subsidiary of U.S. giant mining firm of Freeport in Papua which may attract international attention. The firm has been suffered by a series of series of shootings since July that have killed three people, including a 29 year-old Australian worker, a policeman and a firm guard, at the firm complex, and wounded more than 20 others.
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