We barred seven persons, including one suspectSurabaya, E Java (ANTARA) - East Java Police has barred seven individuals from travelling overseas for their involvement in racist speeches against Papuan students in East Java's capital city of Surabaya recently.
"We barred seven persons, including one suspect," East Java Police Chief Inspector General Luki Hermawan said here Thursday.
Investigations in the case are still in progress, he added.
The police has named Tri Susanti, the field coordinator of a protest that led to racist abuse against Papuan students, as a suspect for spreading rumors and for other provocative acts.
The police has some evidence including videos and content on social media, Hermawan said.
Previously, investigators questioned 29 witnesses on the case, including seven experts.
Susanti was charged with Articles 45A and 28 of the 2016 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law as well as Article 4 of the 2008 law on the elimination of racial and ethnic discrimination, as well as Article 160 of the Criminal Code.
Susanti led members of several mass organizations to storm a Papuan student dormitory on Jl. Kalasan in Surabaya on August 16 after she heard rumors that an Indonesian flag had been defaced and discarded in a ditch near the dormitory building.
The protest, however, led to racial abuse being hurled at the Papuans.
Related news: Police, military still controlling security in Papua
Related news: Indonesians face challenge ahead to fight racis, separatism in Papua
Translator: Fiqih Arfani, Sri Haryati
Editor: Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
