An activist Indonesian priest challenged the court to clarify the provisions in the treason law that is been charged against people in the country for simply taking part in peaceful demonstrations. The law is used by the government of Indonesia as a tool to detain and arrest the citizens to suppress them from raising their voice against the government.
As reported by ucanews.com, Father John Djonga, local priest of Papua in Indonesia stressed that, “Ordinary Papuans stage demonstrations to protest abuse by the state apparatus as well as lack of health and education services, but they are later arrested and charged with treason.”
An estimated figure of around 2,214 civilians including Catholics and more than 400 political activists in Papua were arrested and charged under treason law which clearly portrays the lack of freedom of expression in the country.
Source: www.ucanews.com
