Buchtar Tabuni, Chairman of the West Papua National Committee, was arrested by police.

Police Arrest the Head of KNPB; Here is Buchtar Tabuni's Record Founder of the IPWP, Frequently Imprisoned, and Desperately Opposing Pepera

Buchtar Tabuni, the head of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), is said to have been taken into custody by the police. He has been detained twice, most recently this time.

Since he announced himself an activist in Papua, he has a lengthy history of being jailed and arrested.

The Papua Regional Police's Kombes Pol Ahmad Mustofa Kamal, Head of Public Relations, has verified the news of this arrest.

Overview of Buchtar Tabuni's career

Young Buchtar Tabuni studied engineering at Makassar, South Sulawesi, according to the Wikipedia entry. He founded the International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) in order to reverse the Popular Opinion Opinion (PEPERA), a 1969 referendum that awarded Indonesia control over West Papua. This group didn't become effective until 2008.

As a result of his involvement in planning the demonstration on October 16 in support of the IPWP's introduction in the UK Parliament, he was detained on December 3 at his house in Sentani, close to Jayapura. 50 protestors gathered outside the Jayapura police station the next day to confront him.

At that time, Buchtar Tabuni was charged with three crimes: treason (Article 106) and arousal (Article 160), as well as an act against the state, for which the public prosecutor asked a 10-year jail sentence (Article 212).

"If individuals may freely express their thoughts outside of Papua, why is freedom of expression still prohibited in Papua and constituted treason?" Buchtar Tabuni's attorney questioned in reference to the case.

Buchtar is seen as a defensive conviction by Amnesty International who was "withheld just for expressing [his] viewpoint." Along with other political prisoners from Papua New Guinea who are not criminals, Human Rights Watch demanded their release.

Amnesty alleged in January 2011 that Buchtar and Papuan activist Filep Karma were being tortured after being transferred by the Jayapura police from the Abepura jail to solitary detention. On August 17, 2011, Buchtar Tabuni was eventually allowed to leave prison.

Buchtar was detained once more in Jayapura on June 8, 2012, for encouraging swallowing. Another activist called Yusak Pakage was detained on July 23rd during the Buchtar trial due to the presence of a penknife in his backpack. Pakage was accused of having a weapon and was facing up to 10 years in jail.