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| Martinus Yohame. Photograph FWPC |
The senior West Papuan independence activist, Martinus Yohame, who went missing on August 20, was found dead on Monday.
His body was found floating inside a gunny sack by Nana island, with bullet injuries and his arms and legs tied up, reports Radio New Zealand.
“It’s very shocking that the body was found inside a gunny sack floating on the sea,” West Papua human rights lawyer Yan Christian Warinussy told The Jakarta Post.
Yohame, chair of the West Papuan National Committee (KNPB) in the Sorong region, went missing hours after speaking at a press conference, where he condemned Indonesia's occupation of West Papua and led a local campaign against the presence of the Indonesian president, who was near by at the time, visiting islands of Raja Ampat.
Condemning the kidnapping and murder of Yohame, West Papuan activists have accused Indonesia's Special Forces, the Kopassus, of being responsible.
"This is a common form of torture and execution used by the Indonesian government in West Papua. 1000's of West Papuans have been murdered in this way over the last 50 years," said Free West Papua Campaign in a statement.
KNPB advocates West Papua's right to self-determination. See Papua's struggle for independence
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