Goliat Tabuni denies responsibility for recent Lany Jaya police killings

Bintang Papua

Jayapura: Goliat Tabuni, the commander of the OPM battalion whose headquarters is in Tingginambut, Puncak Jaya, has denied responsibility for attacking a police station in Lany Jaya on 27 November, saying that his group does not operate in Lany Jaya.
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He said that his men are currently holding a summit conference (KTT) and earlier called on the security forces  not to attack them. ‘Our meeting has been taking place from 26 – 30 November.

Responding to a question about whether former members of his group might have been the perpetrators,  he denied any involvement by his men.. ‘They are not our former members and are not under my commend,’ he said.

He alleged that the perpetrators were from another group which operates in Lany Jaya. [We have omitted the names he mentioned.]

The attack against the police station in Pirime Lany killed three policemen, Inspector Rolfi Takubesi and two other police officers . Two people who were  involved in the attack were also killed.

There are thought to have been around fifty  people in the attack group who also succeeded in seizing three weapons from the police. The police, working together with the TNI – Indonesian military – are currently hunting down the killers.

The chief of the general staff of TPN/OPM, Teryanus Sattoalso said that they knew nothing about the attack on the police station in Pirime. ‘It may have been done by a group that is against us because we are currently very busy preparing for the inauguration of our top commander, deputy commander and members of the general staff who were appointed at our supreme meeting (KTT) last May,’ he said.

‘They are not under my command and we have quite a different agenda which is what we are focusing on now so we know nothing about the attack on the police. ‘After the inauguration  of our new command structure, we will be focusing on internal changes and consolidation.’

‘This is the follow-up of our decisions taken on 30 November after which our high command structure will be appointed. The new commanders will be sworn on in 30 November.

He went on to say that this means that the TPN/OPM today is not the same as the former TPN/OPM. ‘We have undertaken internal reforms  through our top-level meeting (KTT), bringing our organisation into conformity with military standards worldwide.’.

He finally called on media colleagues to be more conscientious in the way they write their media reports and check their information more carefully. ‘Some interviews were said to be of Goliat Tabuni,  but it turns out that it was Anton Tabuni who was speaking. This is something that we have frequently experienced, he said. On this day, Gen Goliat Tabuni was only interviewed by  the Australian media, as well as few local media contacts such as Bintang Papua, Kompas, Media Indonesia and Tempo.

[Abridged translation by TAPOL]