Hundreds of people were arrested in Abepura, Jayapura in Papua on Wednesday afternoon for allegedly planning a coup during the Papuan People III Congress.
Among the detainees were an activist from the Secretariat of Justice and Peace of Catholic Church, Neles, Papua Tribal Council Head, Forkorus Yeboisembut and prominent Papuan figure Edison Waromi. They were detained at the Papua police headquarters in Jayapura.
“We will interrogate them, if we find evidence that they were involved in planning a coup we will continue to detain them, if not they will be released,” Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said Wednesday as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.
The Papuan People III congress was held from Oct. 17 to Oct. 19 in Jayapura. It produced controversial decisions including a measure to look into the unification of Papua with Indonesia.
The congress ended in chaos after police entered the congress venue at Zakeus Field, Padang Bulan, Abepura by force. The congress participants ran away to avoid police, although some fell to the ground and others were beaten. Police also reportedly fired warning shots. No casualties have been reported so far.