Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - A freelance photographer of the "wartaplus.com" news portal, Anto Keit, lost his camera and several lenses after a violent protest against the Surabaya incident broke out in Jayapura, the capital city of Papua Province, on August 29, 2019.

He had left his Canon camera and several lenses at his office, and they might have disappeared after several buildings, including his office, were gutted, vandalized, and looted on August 29, Keit told journalists here on Monday.

He said he would file a report with the Papua Provincial Police's Integrated Service Center as suggested by the local police. "I will report my lost property to the police," he said.

Kaleb, an employee of wartaplus.com's financial department, also suffered a similar fate after his motorbike was set on fire along with several other vehicles in the Argapura neighborhood area on August 29.

"My Yamaha Mio scooter was burned by the angry demonstrators who passed by the Argapura neighborhood area," Kaleb said.

Nickson Laly, wartaplus.com's top manager, said he has received his two employees' reports on their lost properties, and their cases would be filed with the police.

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A spate of violence erupted in several parts of Papua and West Papua in the upshot of the Surabaya incident that had triggered public ire among native Papuans.

Over the past weeks, native Papuans in several parts of the provinces of Papua and West Papua held demonstrations protesting alleged racist slurs against the Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, on August 16.

On August 29, the indigenous Papuan residents of Jayapura again staged protests, venting their anger over the alleged racist behavior against their Papuan compatriots in Surabaya, but their rally then turned violent.

The brutal demonstrators went on a rampage, vandalizing and setting ablaze several government buildings. The office of Antara, Indonesia's national news agency, in the city, was also intentionally damaged by the demonstrators.

On August 28, a circle of violence also broke out in Deiyai District, some 500 kilometers away from Jayapura, resulting in the deaths of an army soldier and two civilians.

In response to this rioting, a legislator of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction appealed to law enforcement agencies in the provinces of Papua and West Papua to impose stern sanctions on the rioters.

"The suspects are subject to legal sanctions," Komarudin Watubun, a member of parliament and special envoy of PDIP leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, stated recently.

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Translator: Alfian R, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2019