West Papua National Committee (KNPB) chair Victor Yeimo … now in contact again with supporters after being arrested in a crackdown on Papuan flag wavers on Saturday. Image: ABC TV

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By West Papua Media in Jayapura

Missing National Committee of West Papua (KNPB) chairman Victor Yeimo has turned up safe -  Jubi journalist and editor Victor Mambor today reported Yeimo was already gathered with colleagues.

“Last night, I got an SMS from Mr Waterpauw (Wakapolda) who says Victor Yeimo was been contacted by Alfred Papare (Kapolresta) on Sunday afternoon. Victor Yeimo is fine and he switched off his mobile phone for personal reasons,” Mambor reported.

“This morning, I got (an) sms from KNPB members who said Victor Yeimo already (was) gathered with them,” Mambor wrote in an email alert.

West Papua Media has attempted to independently contact Papuan police, but no reply has been forthcoming if Yeimo had been under charge, nor to questions of Yeimo’s treatment while in the hands of the police.

It was not known if Yeimo had been able to contact human rights lawyers.

Written and verbal questions to Jayapura police to determine Detachment 88 counter-terror unit involvement in his interrogation have also gone unanswered, as have questions about why Yeimo was released while he was on a “wanted” (Daftar Pencarian Orang or DPO) list, allegedly for subversion, and unfounded charges of his alleged involvement in “unknown persons” (Orang Terlatih Khusus) shootings – widely believed by Papuans to be the work of Indonesian special forces.

West Papua Media has documented several cases since the assassination of Mako Tabuni by Detachment 88 troops in June, of scores of highland Papuans who have been brutally mistreated by security forces in the hunt for Yeimo, who has been in hiding for most of this time.

Source: West Papua Media Alerts

Earlier story