Of course, Wenda has no authority to declare independence which he described as a state within a sovereign state, such as Indonesia. Of course, we will draw attention to it because it violates the Indonesian legal system.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) leader Benny Wenda, in exile in the UK, has no authority to declare a West Papua provisional government, National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) Governor Lt Gen.(ret) Agus Widjojo emphasized.

"Of course, Wenda has no authority to declare independence which he described as a state within a sovereign state, such as Indonesia. Of course, we will draw attention to it because it violates the Indonesian legal system," he emphasized.

He made the remarks after the launch of the Lemhanas Book "Kiprah Lemhannas RI", "Indonesia Menoedjoe 2045: SDM Unggul Adalah Koentji", "Skenario Indonesia 2035", and the soft launch of the book "Tentara Kok Mikir?” Out of The Box by Lt Gen. (ret.) Agus Widjojo at the Lemhannas Building here on Thursday.

No single state in the world is set up in a state, he stated.

Widjojo adjudged Wenda’s action as a form of legal violation.

"If he violates (the law), law enforcement agencies will take action against him," he remarked.

International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana stressed that the provisional government declared by Wenda on December 1, 2020, had no foundation under the international law since it is unclear for which state it has been created, where it exists, and when the state's creation was declared.

Juwana averred that the creation of a state comes first under the international law. To this end, the existence of a state comes first followed by a government, he added.

Hence, it would be incongruous if the so-called “provisional government” were to be recognized by the international community, Juwana, concurrently rector of the General Ahmad Yani University (Unjani), stressed.

Meanwhile, he expressed belief that the support demonstrated by several Pacific countries for the UMLWP cannot be viewed as a benchmark owing to their insignificance as recognizing states.
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Translator: Syaiful Hakim/Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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