Victor Yeimo, one of the “masterminds” behind massive civilian protests in West Papua in 2019, has been arrested by Indonesian authorities. “Treason” is mentioned as a possible—although not yet officially made—charge against the 38-year-old grassroots leader, who, if found guilty, risks life imprisonment. 

Critics perceive the arrest as merely a politically motivated act, and it occurs while Indonesian army prepares for large-scale military operations against “terrorist” labeled independence movements in West Papua’s central highlands.

By Klas Lundström

WEST PAPUA Indonesian authorities recently arrested Victor Yeimo, one of the “masterminds” of the ever-more relentless civilian West Papuan independence movement. The arrest is a feather in Indonesia’s cap, who sees Mr. Yeimo as one of the leading figures behind the mass protests that shuffled the entire western half of New Guinea in 2019, Al Jazeera English reports.

Per Victor Yeimo’s defense team, an official charge is yet to be made against their client, although widespread rumors speak of “high-treason,” which—if Mr. Yeimo is found guilty in Indonesian court—might put the grassroots leader behind bars for life. 

Among the illegal activities, Victor Yeimo not only was one of the “masterminds” behind widespread manifestations against Indonesian rule over West Papua, amidst racist outrage against West Papuan students on Indonesia’s central island, Java, in 2019. 

Mr. Yeimo is also accused of having raised the “Morning Star,” the banned West Papuan flag—an illegal act in the Indonesian Republic, of which West Papua is the island nation’s poorest and least developed corner.

Arrests in time of war mongering

The arrest occurs in a time of increasing war mongering in the central highlands, where the armed West Papuan independence movement, Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM, has caused the Western-supported Indonesian army military setbacks—e.g. by killing a high-ranking army general in late April. Mere days after that, the Indonesian government, led by President Joko Widodo, decided to label OPM and other armed organizations as “terrorists.”

Benny Wenda, President of the provisional West Papuan government, working clandestinely to undermine Indonesian rule, has called for the immediate release of 38-year-old Mr. Yeimo:

“Any West Papuans who speak out about injustice – church leaders, local politicians, journalists – are now at risk of being labelled a ‘criminal’ or ‘terrorist’ and arrested or killed,” Mr. Wenda wrote in a statement following the arrest.

Andreas Harsono, Indonesian journalist and researcher at Human Rights Watch, and based in Jakarta, agrees.

“Indonesian authorities should drop the politically motivated treason case and unconditionally release Victor Yeimo, now in custody, for protesting racism toward Indigenous people in Papua,” he tells Global Magazine.