West Papuan students protest in Jakarta

Watched over by police, dozens of student activists have marched in the Indonesian capital to demand the self-determination of West Papua.

West Papuan activists protest in Jakarta on Thursday.

West Papuan activists protest in Jakarta on Thursday. Source: AAP

Dozens of student activists have marched in the Indonesian capital to demand the self-determination of West Papua.

The protesters held signs and shouted slogans demanding the West Papua region be freed, the closure of the Freeport gold mine, and that Indonesian police and military personnel leave the area.

The rally began at midday and lasted for around two hours, finishing at the State Palace.
West Papuan activists stage a rally in Jakarta.
West Papuan activists stage a rally in Jakarta. Source: AAP
Dozens of police stood guard and lined up a few metres from the protesters, while a group critical of the West Papua activists followed without incident.

The protesters were marking August 1969's Act of Free Choice which handed control of West Papua - on the western side of the island of New Guinea - to Indonesia in a vote widely criticised as a sham.

The Free West Papua campaign on its website said at the time of the referendum, the Indonesian military "hand-picked just 1026 'representative' people, out of a population of one million, bribed them and threatened to kill them and their families if they voted the wrong way" and that the "UN stood by while Indonesia rigged the vote."

On its Twitter account on the eve of Thursday's march in Jakarta, Free West Papua said that "on this 49th anniversary of the so called #ActOfFreeChoice we reject this injustice inflicted on the people of West Papua."
"West Papua has the right to self determination through the internationally supervised vote they were promised," it added.


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