Free West Papua Campaign Newsletter

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Yanto has spent Christmas in a jail cell just for signing a petition…. We want to get him out in the New Year.
yantoYanto with his baby
The Indonesian authorities are trying to lay false charges of treason on Yanto which carry a sentence of 15 years in prison. Yanto faces not only missing this Christmas with his family but the next 15. All for peacefully requesting UN assistance.

This is one of the few times Yanto has seen his child since his arrest.

On the 9th January we can get Yanto free, but we need your help.
I'll help free Yanto

This September, an unprecedented petition bearing the signatures of over 1.8million West Papuans was delivered to the UN, calling on them to review the situation in the region and allow West Papuans a genuine act of self-determination through an internationally supervised vote.

Signed by over 70% of the population, this is more than 1,750 times the number of people who participated in the fraudulent ‘Act of Free Choice’ of 1969, in which Indonesia handpicked 1,026 people in West Papua and forced them at gunpoint to declare support for Indonesian rule.

The petition was outlawed across Indonesia with threats of imprisonment for anyone caught signing it. The platform that initially hosted it, the Avaaz website, was blocked throughout the whole country. By signing it, people risked arrest, torture, and even death at the hands of the Indonesian security forces.

In May, Indonesian Security Services stormed the stage at a KNPB prayer meeting being led by Yanto in support of the petition - and Yanto was arrested. Since then he has been held without charge, unable to see his wife and young child.

His trial date is set for the 9th January, so we only have a short time to raise funds to help free Yanto.
I'll help free Yanto

During the next week we’ll be busy working with lawyers and activists to help Yanto, alongside other political prisoners, as well as raising awareness of their plight. We need the money to bring a team together to get Yanto's story out, reaching out to people that can ensure he gets a fair trial and a chance of freedom.

So will you help free Yanto?

With hope and determination

George Monbiot & Catherine Delahunty