President Orders Authority to Tackle Papua Unrest: Moeldoko

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has instructed the authority to tackle the unrest in Papua proportionally and professionally, Chief of the Presidential Staff Moeldoko quoted the President as saying. Military and police personnel should show restraint while handling demonstrations in the region, Moeldoko said at the Presidential Palace Complex here Monday.

"There is no order to take repressive action, all parties should practice self-restraint," he added.

Earlier in the day, a mass protest in Wamena, Jayawijaya District, Papua has turned violent with some rioters torching several facilities.

The demonstrations were held in several areas in Wamena. A report received by Antara in Jayapura found that the demonstrators, comprising mostly youngsters, had set fire to several public facilities, such as office complexes.

Papua Police Chief Inspector General Rudolf A. Rodja attributed the mass protest in Wamena to the spreading of a hoax or fake news about a teacher mouthing some racist words against a Papuan student.

The mass protest or demonstration had been localized and secured by personnel of the National Police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Operation Control Assistance (BKO) Nusantara, who were seconded in Wamena, Jayawijaya District, Rodja affirmed.

The information about a teacher in Papua using racist words was false and based on the police’s assessment of the validity of the information, Rodja clarified. The police is launching an organized and intensive search for a person suspected of spreading fake news.

ANTARA