Members of the Papuan Regional Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Reskrim Polda Papua) have arrested a 25-year-old Papuan student with the initials GM in his house in North Jayapura on 1 May 2020 for posting an image of Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo wearing a hat with the Morning Star symbol on his Facebook account and YouTube channel. GM is a student enrolled in a university in Yogyakarta. The police charged the student with article 28 (2) in conjunction with article 45A (2) of Law No. 19 /2016 about the amendment of Law No. 11/2008 on Electronic Information and Transaction on hate speech.
The manipulated image was uploaded on 24 April 2020 on a Facebook account on behalf of the name Gerads Miagoni. The post to the image stated “I often have crazy ideas to create chaos and destroy Indonesia. The goal is to prove to the world that it is not only a handful of Papuans supporting the independence of a Free West Papua but the entire West Papuan nation who wants to separate from the Unitary Republic of Indonesia”. The suspect is currently detained at the Polda Papua headquarters in Jayapura.
