By : Charles Tabuni )*
All parties condemn very strongly the series of barbaric and completely inhumane actions that have been carried out by KST Papua, because they have taken hostages on as many as 4 (four) BTS workers. Not only did they take hostages, but they also carried out attacks that injured civilians and even used workers to demand ransoms of up to hundreds of millions of Rupiah.
It has happened again, a series of inhumane acts of cruelty continue to be carried out by the Papuan separatist and terrorist group (KST). Most recently, they took as many as 4 (four) telecommunications tower workers or Bakti Kominfo Base Transceiver Station (BTS) hostage workers in the Okbab District, Gunung Bintang Regency, Papua on Friday, May 12 2023 yesterday. Even though the hostages had returned with the community, the actions of KST Papua certainly could not
It is known that the workers who were taken hostage by the separatist and terrorist group came from PT Inti Bangun Sejahtera (PT IBS). Regarding the hostage-taking incident, the Head of Public Relations (Humas) of the Papua Regional Police (Polda), Senior Commissioner (Kombes) Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo explained that the hostage-taking began when 6 (six) BTS workers led by the Chief The Information and Communication Service for the Gunung Bintang District, Alverus Sanuari departed from Oksibil to the Okbab District.
They departed from Oksibil to the Okbab District by using the Eagle Air plane at 08:30 Eastern Indonesian Time (WIT). It turned out that shortly after arriving and landing at the Okbab Airfield, they were all immediately confronted by as many as 5 (five) people who claimed to be KST Papua members.
During the interception, it was also discovered that the separatist and terrorist groups used sharp weapons, such as machetes and sempai, to physically assault 3 (three) BTS workers.
Despite carrying out attacks and physical violence, it turned out that KST Papua released the Head of the Information and Communication Service for the Gunung Bintang District, Alverus Sanuari and also one of the victims who was injured, named Benyamin Sembiring, to be returned to the Oksibil District.
The two victims released by the separatist and terrorist groups arrived at the Oksibil airport at 11:00 WIT and were immediately rushed to the Oksibil Hospital to receive medical treatment as soon as possible.
However, it turned out that KST Papua only released 2 (two) victims, and they took 2 (four) other victims as hostages. The two victims are also still injured as a result of the persecution perpetrated by the separatist and terrorist groups.
Furthermore, the identity of the worker who is still being held hostage by KST Papua, namely Asmar who is a staff member of PT IBS. He was known to have suffered an injury to the right shoulder, then there was the name Peas Kulka who was a staff member from the Okbab Doistrik, senus Lepitalem as a youth from the Borne District and also Fery who was a PT IBS staff who suffered an injury to his left shoulder.
Based on the testimony of the witnesses who were at the crime scene (TKP), namely in Oksibil, it turns out that KST Papua did not only abuse and take hostages, but from the atrocities in the form of hostage-taking, this separatist and terrorist group also demanded ransom.
Their savagery was completely inhumane because they actually used the hostages to demand a ransom of 500 million Rupiah as a condition for being able to release the hostages.
Of course, with the demands that KST Papua asked for, it immediately became a very serious concern for a number of authorities, especially the security forces from the joint personnel of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), Indonesian National Police (Polri) and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). .
Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff (KSAD) General TNI, Dudung Abdurachman strongly condemned all the actions that had been carried out by the Papuan separatist and terrorist groups because they had carried out attacks, taken hostages and even used BTS workers by asking for ransoms of up to hundreds million Rupiah.
Not only carrying out attacks on the airport, but KST Papua also took 4 (four) BTS workers as hostages. Of course, with this action, all parties really deserve to strongly condemn this totally inhumane act of barbarity and be able to work together in efforts to fight against separatist and terrorist groups on Cenderawasih Earth so that security stability and a conducive situation can be realized again.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Jakarta
