Pacific / West Papua

Four Papuans killed by soldiers in post-election unrest

11:33 am on 30 May 2019

Indonesian soldiers shot and killed four people in Papua province during a riot reportedly linked to the recent national elections.

With official results from the mid-April election tendered in the past week, post-election unrest has erupted in numerous parts of Indonesia.

Photo: AFP

Benar News reports that supporters of a losing candidate in Papua's Asmat regency attacked the home of a rival on Monday, claiming he had stolen votes.

The local police chief Andi Yoseph Enoch said in response to the riot, soldiers fired shots because the crowd tried to attack them.

Police identified four Papuans who died as a result of the military action.

This week's violence in Papua followed two nights of unrest last week in the Indonesian capital Jakarta related to the election victory of Indonesia's president Joko

Widodo.

Following the deaths in Papua, the regional spokesman for Indonesia's military, Muhammad Aidi, said the army had invited police and the National Commission on Human Rights to investigate.