Weynand Watory, a member of Commission A of the DPRP, said that the arrest of Buchtar Tabuni and his two colleagues  would do nothing to help resolve the conflict in Papua. On the contrary, it would only intensify the conflict. He also said that the ideology of Tabuni would not end.  He pointed out that this was the second time that Tabuni had been arrested and that this would only encourage his supporters to continue with their activities.

He said that the best way forward would be for the  government to hold dialogue  with the Papuan people on the broadest possible basis to reduce  the spread of his ideas. He said that Tabuni had been able to establish a network of supporters not only in Jayapura  but also across the whole of Papua.

‘We can well imagine that more Buchtars will emerge everywhere,’ he warned.

‘Just see how their ideas are spreading everywhere. We need to make an evaluation of the system currently being used because it is clearly not the right way forward. It is up to the government to make a careful evaluation of  the way it is handling the problems in Papua. If we are honest, we will see that the problems are only getting worse and the approaches being made to minimalise the problems have only strengthened the pro-independence movement,’ he said.

Translated  by TAPOL