By Banjir Ambarita on 02:18 pm Oct 29, 2014
http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/police-soldiers-suspected-arming-papua-separatists/
Indonesian police detain a protester during a demonstration against Indonesian rule in Papua. (EPA Photo/Yasmin Anis)
Jayapura. Authorities in Papua have arrested a police officer and are questioning three soldiers suspected of supplying ammunition to an armed separatist cell blamed for attacks that killed at least six police officers in the past three years.
The officer in custody, identified only as A.J., a police brigadier, was arrested on Sunday along with six suspected members of a cell of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) led by Pinus “Rambo” Wenda, who was also netted in the bust.
“We can confirm that one of our men was arrested and is suspected of having supplied ammunition to an armed criminal group,” Insp. Gen. Yotje Mende, the chief of the Papua Police, told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.
He said the bust took place in a hotel in Wamena, in Papua’s Jayawijaya district, in which police also found two rifle magazines and dozens of rounds of ammunition.
“We’ve had an eye on [A.J.] for a while now, but it’s only now that we’ve been able to catch him in a position where we can charge him,” Yotje said. “We’re questioning him intensively to determine where he got the ammunition, whether he stole it or some other means.”
Yotje said A.J. had claimed to investigators that his uncle, a retired soldier, was also involved in supplying ammunition to Rambo’s cell.
The provincial military commander said separately that his office was questioning a retired soldier and two serving ones about their alleged role in the case.
The police are handling the investigation into the retired soldier, according to Maj. Gen. Fransen Siahaan, the head of the Cendrawasih Military Command in Jayapura, which oversees military operations for the whole of Papua.
“The two others are still serving in the force and are being investigated by the Military Police,” Fransen told the Globe on Tuesday. “If they’re found to be involved in supplying ammunition to the OPM, I will discharge them. We won’t tolerate any armed forces personnel who does that. We’re going to find out how long they’ve been doing this.”
War drums
Police have not named A.J. or any of the soldiers as a suspect in the case, but they have already designated the six suspected OPM members as such.
Police also shot Rambo in the leg during the hotel raid on Sunday, claiming he tried to resist arrest.
The capture of Rambo, one of the most wanted OPM operatives in recent years, has prompted a threat of an armed backlash from the separatist group.
“We demand that the police immediately release our comrade, Rambo Wenda, or else we and all Papuan people will declare war and will target all non-Papuans in Papua,” Puron Wenda, the commander of the OPM in Lanny Jaya province, the organization’s stronghold, told the Globe by phone on Tuesday.
He added that police had until Thursday to release Rambo and the five others, “otherwise we will beat the drums of war.”
Puron said he had also phoned Yotje, the police chief, to make the demand — a claim that Yotje confirmed.
“But I refused to communicate with them because they’re criminals,” Yotje said.
Rambo is blamed for more than a dozen attacks on police stations and convoys since 2005 in Puncak Jaya and Lanny Jaya districts, and the deaths of at least six police officers since 2011.
The OPM, which is outlawed by the Indonesian government, has waged a low-level armed insurgency against the Indonesian security forces since 1965.