INDONESIA: 10,000 PAPUANS MOURN DEATH OF PROVINCES MAIN PRO-INDEPENDENCE CHIEF THEYS ELUAY
Record ID:
646739
INDONESIA: 10,000 PAPUANS MOURN DEATH OF PROVINCES MAIN PRO-INDEPENDENCE CHIEF THEYS ELUAY
- Title: INDONESIA: 10,000 PAPUANS MOURN DEATH OF PROVINCES MAIN PRO-INDEPENDENCE CHIEF THEYS ELUAY
- Date: 17th November 2001
- Summary: (W3) SENTANI, IRYAN JAYA, INDONESIA (NOVEMBER 17, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF SECURITY ON THE ROAD CHECKING PEOPLE'S CARS (3 SHOTS) 0.18 2. VARIOUS OF TRADITIONAL DANCING IN FRONT OF DEAD INDEPENDENCE LEADER THEYS ELUAY'S HOME/ TRADITIONAL FUNERAL CEREMONY (4 SHOTS) 0.42 3. MV/SV: ELUAY'S COFFIN, TRADITIONAL DANCERS AROUND THE COFFIN (3 SHOTS) 0.59 4. VARIOUS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE ELUAY'S HOME 1.05 5. SV: FUNERAL PROCESSION WITH SIGNS 1.09 6. SV: MAN WATCHING PROCESSION 1.14 7. SV/MV/SV: MORE OF PROCESSION WITH MOURNERS THROWING FLOWERS OVER THE COFFIN /MOURNERS WITH FLOWERS (3 SHOTS) 1.29 8. MV/SLV: ELUAY'S COFFIN COVERED WITH FLAG AND FLOWERS BEING PLACED IN FOOTBALL FIELD FULL OF MOURNERS (2 SHOTS) 1.44 9. WS: MOURNERS IN FOOTBALL FIELD 1.51 10. SV/MV: ELUAY'S WIFE AND DAUGHTER CRYING OVER COFFIN IN FOOTBALL FIELD (WHICH WILL BE RENAMED 'HERO FIELD') (2 SHOTS) 2.02 11. WS: MOURNERS IN FIELD/ SIGN READING IN INDONESIA BAHASA 'PAPUA MERDEKA' (PAPUAN INDEPENDENCE) SIGN 2.05 12. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (NGO) ACTIVIST, NICO RAWOR SAYING: "Most of people in Papua consider Theys as a charismatic leader that could have brought us to independence. The problem is if we have new leader can he or she bring us to independence like Theys did?" 2.33 13. SLV/MV: MOURNERS SALUTING AND SINGING PAPUAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT (2 SHOTS) 2.46 14. WIDE OF MOURNERS 2.49 15. HAS/SV: ELUAY'S COFFIN BEING LOWERED INTO THE GROUND (2 SHOTS) 3.07 16. VARIOUS OF FLOWERS BEING THROWN INTO GRAVE 3.15 17. SV/SCU: ELUAY'S WIFE AND DAUGHTER CRYING (2 SHOTS) 3.28 18. WS: CROWDS AT FOOTBALL FIELD DURING FUNERAL 3.34 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 2nd December 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SENTANI, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Reuters ID: LVAERZ9VPP0ZX6S8ICA34YGLIPFY
- Story Text: Some 10,000 Papuans have mourned the death of the
remote Indonesian province's main pro-independence chief at a
funeral that also rammed home to Jakarta the desire of many to
gain independence for the province.
As the procession of mourners made its way from the
modest home of Theys Eluay to the burial ground in a large
field on Saturday (November 17), tribal chiefs wearing feather
costumes performed traditional dances. The sound of hymns
being sung wafted over the crowd while some wept.
Under a scorching sun, others carried a large cardboard
cross with the separatist blue and white Morning Star flag
stuck on, a symbol of the demands for independence in Papua
province.
In an apparent attempt to defuse tension over the mysterious
death of the Papuan Presidium Council chairman a
week ago, there were few police or soldiers in the lakeside
town of Sentani apart from senior officers attending Eluay's
funeral.
Papua police chief Inspector-General Made Mangku Pastika
later sprinkled flowers into the grave once Eluay's body had
been lowered into the ground.
By early afternoon and following the funeral the town,
which lies some 3,700 km (2,300 miles) east of Jakarta,
appeared calm.
"Most of people in Papua consider Theys as a charismatic
leader that could brought us to independence. Thus the problem
is if we have new leader can he/she bring us to independence
like Theys did," said Nico Rawor, a Papuan NGO.
Some people in the eastern province of two million people,
previously called Irian Jaya, also refer to it as West Papua.
The province makes up the western half of New Guinea island.
People expressed sorrow at the charismatic Eluay's death,
who despite his links to the autocratic rule of former
President Suharto was revered by many. Eluay was once a
parliamentarian in the former ruling Golkar party, Suharto's
political vehicle.
The pro-independence movement insists Eluay was killed
because of his efforts to break the province away from
Indonesia.
Eluay was found dead in his upturned car last Sunday
(November 11) after eating dinner with the head of the army's
elite special forces.
Authorities have given conflicting views of the death of
Eluay, who was easily recognisable in Indonesia with his shock
of white hair and large frame.
While there has been only relatively minor trouble since
his death, it could be a setback to Indonesia's hope of
calming decades of separatist tension in the sparsely
populated territory if evidence points to murder.
Eluay's council had already rejected the granting of
greater autonomy that handed Papuan people a bigger share of
the province's wealth, saying it did not go far enough.
Papua is home to the world's richest copper and gold mine
as well as lucrative oil and gas fields.
The council Eluay led eschews the hard line taken by the
pro-independence Free Papua Movement (OPM), rebels who have
been fighting a low-level guerrilla war for decades.
In a separate incident, police clashed with OPM rebels in
a different part of the vast province on Friday. Two rebels
were shot and wounded in the clash.
Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1963 after heavy
diplomatic pressure on the Netherlands, Indonesia's former
colonial ruler. In 1969 a U.N.-run plebiscite was held among
local leaders, including Eluay, which resulted in a vote to
join Indonesia. The vote has been widely criticised as unfair.
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