Filep Karma

Filep Karma Semuel Jacob (born August 15, 1959 in Biak ) is a political activist for the independence of West Papua .

His father, Andreas Karma, first worked as a civil servant in the Dutch colonial administration and after West Papua was taken over by the Indonesians in 1963 , he continued to hold administrative functions. His cousin, Constant Karma, served as the deputy governor of Papua. Filep Karma studied Political Science at the University of Surakarta in Central Java . He then worked as an employee in Jayapura . From 1997-1998 he studied in Manila .

After his return to Indonesia he was involved in the Papuan independence movement ,organasi Papua Merdeka . He took part in the events on the island of Biak in July 1998, which were a protest against Indonesian occupation. Around 100 demonstrators died during the riots, shot dead by Indonesian armed forces. He was arrested on July 6, 1998 and remained in prison until October 3, 1998. In January 1999, the Indonesian authorities charged him with high treason and sentenced him to 6.5 years in prison. After an appeal was filed, he was released from prison on November 20, 1999. On December 1, 2004, the anniversary of independence from the Dutch, he attended a ceremony where he put the West Papua flag, which was banned by Indonesia, on the flagpole. For this act he was again declared a traitor by the Indonesian authorities and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In August 2011, when Indonesia declared an amnesty for political prisoners in West Papua, he refused to avail himself of the amnesty without unconditional release. Amnesty International declared him a political prisoner in 2005 and has been campaigning for his release ever since. On November 19, 2015, Karma was finally released early from prison.

Karma is considered by the western media as the most famous activist for the independence of West Papua.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Prosecuting Political Aspiration, by: Human Rights Watch
2. ↑ ^{a b} Rebecca Henschke: Papua activist Filep Karma 'abused in prison'. In: BBC News . August 3, 2010, accessed January 12, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Filep Karma, Jailed for Raising a Flag, by: Amnesty International ( Memento of the original of April 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ ^{a b} Indonesia releases prominent W Papuan pro-independence leader from jail. In: abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation , November 20, 2015, accessed January 12, 2016 .