Joint security force members raided the Ambaidiru Village (see photo, source: JPIC Kingmi Papua) in the Kosiwo District, Kepulauan Yapen Regency, on 8 December 2021. Multiple police trucks and other vehicles entered Ambaidiru around 10:00 pm. According to information received from the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Desk of the Papuan Tabernacle Church (JPIC Kingmi Papua), police officers arrested four indigenous villagers during the raid, among them a fourteen-year-old girl named Tigris Atewa. The police officers reportedly handcuffed Tigris Atewa. During the police interrogation at the police headquarters, her parents had to translate because Tigris Atewa hardly speaks Indonesian.
Police officers also arrested Mr Baltazar Adi Rawai (18 years), Mr Frans Pai (39 years) and Mr Jever Karubaba (18 years) during the raid. Mr Baltazar Adi Rawai (18 years) continues to be detained at the Yapen District Police headquarters because police found air rifles, a machete and an axe in his house. Indigenous Papuans commonly use these items for hunting and gardening. The police claim they also found camouflage clothing with morning star emblems. Mr Rawai was charged with treason and criminal conspiracy as regulated under Articles 106 and 110 of the Indonesian criminal code KUHP. The violations carry maximum penalties of 20 years and life imprisonment. The other three arrestees were released on 10 December 2021.
More than 2,000 indigenous Papuans living in the Ambaidiru area reportedly fled into the surrounding forest in fear of reprisals by security force members.
