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Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Popular Solidarity Team Papua return the grant money from the Administrative Institution of the Education Fund (LPDP) Ministry of Finance worth Rs 773 million, which has been received by human rights activists (HAM) Veronica koman, Wednesday (16/9) afternoon.
The repayment began with Veronica’s admission that she was asked to repay the scholarship money while she was pursuing graduate studies in Australia. Veronica said the request for reimbursement was financial punishment for her to stop speaking out about defending human rights issues in Papua.
“The Indonesian government is implementing economic sanctions as the latest effort to pressure me to stop defending Papua’s human rights,” Veronica said in a written statement received. CNNIndonesia.com last august.
The emergence of a scholarship reimbursement bill last August led to the Papua Solidarity Team fundraiser. Members of the Papua Solidarity Team stated that the fundraising was the solidarity of the Papuan people with Veronica, who has been actively advocating for the problems in the Cenderawasih land and did not hesitate to confront the government.
Search based CNNIndonesia.com, Veronica started protecting the Papua issue when she joined the #PapuaItuKita movement with several other lawyers in LBH Jakarta in late 2014. It was a month of bloody tragedy in Paniai, Papua.
Veronica, as a public lawyer for LBH Jakarta, criticized the attitude of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who was considered slow in ordering the investigation of the Paniai murder case on December 8, 2014.
After that, Veronica accompanied the rejection of the Papuan people to the NKRI expedition initiated by the former Coordinating Minister of Development and Culture, Puan Maharani.
Veronica criticized the show for being full of militarism. She also accused TNI and Polri staff of sending to West Papua solely to extract natural resources in Papua.
It was also recorded that the woman who was born 32 years ago accompanied the violence allegedly perpetrated by the authorities against Papuan students in Yogyakarta.
In 2016, Veronica continued her education at the Australian National University (ANU) Master of Laws Program. However, she constantly advocates cases of human rights violations in Papua.
The climax occurred when a case of racist speech emerged in a Papuan student dormitory in Surabaya in September 2019.
At that time there were a series of large demonstrations in various regions. Riots broke out, especially in various regions of Papua. He tweeted a series of calls for mobilization of actions on the streets of Jayapura and various cities in Papua.
As a result, Verónica was charged with various articles, namely the Information and Electronic Transactions Law (ITE), Penal Code 160 on incitement in public, Law 1/1946 on the dissemination of false information and Law 40/2008 on racism and ethnicity.
However, Veronica still tweeted on Twitter shortly after being named a suspect. In her tweet, Veronica reported that 20 residents were arrested for distributing anti-racism flyers in Merauke in English.
The police also asked Interpol for help in pursuing Veronica because she was abroad. Shortly after that, Veronica testified that her determination as a suspect was criminalization and an attempt by the police to deflect the issue from Papua.
Until last August, there was a controversy about the return of the LPDP scholarship. Various pros and cons about reimbursement have emerged from the public.
Meanwhile, when the Papua Solidarity Team appeared to help repay the scholarship funds, Veronica admitted that she could not refuse the solidarity action.
“The Papuans repeatedly mention this about their pride, so I am in no position to refuse. The ball is in the Ministry of Finance. After this country has taken so much from Papua, can we take this money? We’ll see tomorrow.” Veronica wrote. .
(I to)
[Gambas:Video CNN]
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