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West Papua: OPM leader murdered

On December 16, Free Papua Movement (OPM) leader Kelly Kwalik was murdered by Indonesian police during a raid in Timika. Kwalik had been fighting for West Papuan independence from Indonesia for nearly four decades.

In response to the news of Kwalik's death, Joe Collins of the Australian West Papua Association said that "like all civil society organisations in West Papua the OPM also supported the concept of a zone of peace in West Papua. The OPM has also been calling for dialogue with Jakarta. "Is this Jakarta's response, an attack on an OPM leader who is of great symbolic importance to the West Papuan people?" Collins asked.

"Reports coming from West Papua have stated that the local market has been burned and people are also calling for the return of his body."

AWPA has called on the Australian government to urge Indonesia not to use the tense situation as an excuse for further military repression.

Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP), formerly ASIET (Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor), is a network of solidarity activists campaigning for democratic rights, self-determination and other justice struggles in the Asia Pacific region.
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