Indonesian police have shot dead Maku Tabuni, a leader of the Papuan separatist movement.
Mr Tabuni is said to have been unarmed when he was killed after resisting arrest.
Human rights activists claim he was running from police when he was shot in the back of his head.
The police denies he was unarmed and said he fought back.
"When he aimed at one of the officers' with a weapon, only then he was shot by the police," Papua police spokesman Yohanes Nugroho told BBC Indonesian Service.
"We suspect that he was behind the string of violence in Papua since March."
Locals rioted in the town of Jayapura after the news of his death emerged, setting several houses and vehicles on fire.
Papuans have demanded a referendum on independence ever since resources-rich West Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969, with sporadic violence breaking out between separatists and Indonesian forces for decades.
Indonesian security forces have been accused of widespread human rights abuses and genocide during the ongoing conflict.