Three organisers taken into custody in Port Morseby, with government accused of bowing to Indonesian pressre
Three organisers of a pro-West Papua rally in Port Moresby have been taken into custody, with the governor of the Papua New Guinean capital accusing the country's government of bowing to pressure from neighbour Indonesia.
The PNG nationals Fred Mambrasar, Tony Fofoe and Patrick Kaiku said they were interviewed by police on Sunday afternoon after taking part in a march to mark the West Papuan national day of 1 December. The event culminated in the raising of the banned West Papuan morning star flag.
Powes Parkop, the Port Moresby governor, told Guardian Australia the three had been targeted "due to undue pressure from the Indonesian government". West Papua is a province of Indonesia but there is an independence movement that does not recognise the government in Jakarta.
"Clearly Indonesia has put pressure on the [PNG] government but we are an independent nation. Our constitution allows us freedom of expression and assembly. They will not intimidate us any more," Parkop said.
Mambrasar told Guardian Australia he expected they would be charged with unlawful assembly despite the event being endorsed and approved by the municipal government, led by Parkop.
At the rally Parkop addressed the crowd of approximately 1,000. "We have broken the silence. We won't be intimidated any more. I congratulate you all for turning up," he said.
"This is our ancestral land. The morning star flag deserves to be raised across our ancestral land. This will become a worldwide movement that cannot be stopped. I want to tell the Indonesian government that their claim to West Papua is based on fraud and lies."
Earlier the West Papuan activist Benny Wenda and the Australian lawyer Jennifer Robinson, who attended the event, told Guardian Australia they had been threatened with arrest and deportation if they took part in "political activities" while in PNG on visitor visas.
Parkop said he personally intervened to make sure they were not arrested. "I have advised [PNG] immigration that Benny and Jennifer are here at my invitation," he said.
Guardian Australia sought comment from the PNG prime minister, Peter O'Neill.
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