Five police officers, one journalist were injured and eleven reportedly detained when a rally staged by West Papua National Committee (KNPB) turned chaotic on Tuesday in Manokwari, West Papua.
"They [officers] were still hospitalized. The demonstrators threw stones at them. I don’t know whether anyone from KNPB was also injured," said Manokwari Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agustinus Supriyanto on Wednesday, as quoted by www.tempo.co.
A reporter with Suara Papua, Oktovianus Pogau was also reportedly injured after being hit by the police.
Dozens of people under the KNPB staged a rally in front of the University of Papua, Manokwari to show support for the meeting of the International Parliament of West Papua (IPWP) that discussed the ongoing struggle for the liberation of West Papua in London.
The supposedly peaceful rally turned chaotic after one of the demonstrators threw stones at people that took pictures from behind the horde of police. The police responded by allegedly firing warning shots.
Agustinus denied that the police opened fire at the demonstrators. " If there were rumors about someone being shot, that’s not true," said Agustinus. He also claimed that no one was arrested.
Another report, however, says that 11 protesters were detained as a result of the incident.
The committee’s chairman, Viktor Yeimo, said that some of his people were arrested. "This is unacceptable. We were just expressing our aspirations. I even heard that two of our men were shot," he said.