Riot police watch over demonstration in Jayapura as demonstrators denounce 1969 referendum that gave Indonesia control over the former Dutch colony.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFindonesia 88(photo credit: )
Hundreds of protesters marched through the streets in eastern Indonesia on Thursday demanding independence for resource-rich Papua province.
Riot police watched over the demonstration in the provincial capital of Jayapura as protesters denounced a 1969 referendum that gave Indonesia control over the former Dutch colony. That ballot, which Jakarta still holds up as a valid expression of self-determination, is now widely regarded as a sham.
More than 600 students, activists and residents yelled "Free Papua" as they headed toward the local parliament, said protester organizer Forkorus Yaboisembut.
They were blocked by riot police, who set up barricades on the road leading to the legislature and the main university.
Agus Rianto, a police spokesman, said the rally dispersed peacefully.
Indonesia took over Papua from the Dutch in 1963 and formalized its sovereignty over the region six years later through a stage-managed vote by about 1,000 community leaders.
A small, poorly armed separatist movement has battled Indonesian rule in the impoverished province ever since. About 100,000 Papuans - a sixth of the population - have died in military operations.
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