West Papua Police Chief Brig. Gen. Herry Rudolf Nahak remarked here on Wednesday that the police had detained 14 suspects in the riot in Manokwari, 12 suspects in Sorong, and three suspects in Fakfak.
"No suspects from other regions. The riots have only broken out in the three regions. All suspects were detained," Nahak stated.
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Nahak remarked that the suspects were allegedly involved in vandalism, arson, and looting during the riots on August 19-21.
The police are also investigating the possibility of the suspects receiving orders from certain parties to fuel the unrest.
"We want to ensure whether the suspects' actions were spur-of-the-moment or committed in keeping with orders," he noted.
Nonetheless, Nahak admitted that most crimes committed were spontaneous in nature.
Alleged racist slurs against Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, on August 16 set off a chain reaction of violent rallies in various parts of Papua and West Papua.
In the West Papua provincial capital of Manokwari, a rally took a violent turn on August 19, with some protesters setting ablaze to a local parliamentary building and tires in several parts of the city.
Another violent demonstration erupted in the Papua provincial capital of Jayapura on August 29. The brutal demonstrators went on a rampage, setting fire to several government buildings.
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Translator: Toyiban, Sri Haryati
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
