UPDATE 03/12/21: Victor is receiving medical care in hospital, but he is at risk of being returned to prison at any time. Victor should not have been imprisoned in the first place. Please keep calling for his freedom.

Pro-independence political activist, Victor Yeimo has been arbitrarily arrested and charged with treason for peacefully protesting against racial discrimination in Indonesia.

Victor leads the West Papua National Committee, the largest and most persecuted non-violent organization fighting for self-determination, and is the spokesperson of the Papuan People’s Petition, a network of 112 mostly Indigenous groups fighting against the extension of Special Autonomy status in West Papua. 

He has been accused of treason during the period of heightened tensions in West Papua over his protests in the 2019 uprising. Over the last decade, Indonesian authorities have increasingly cracked down on freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and used the vague offence of treason to prosecute dozens of peaceful pro-independence political activists.

He has been held in solitary confinement and has had limited access to his family and lawyer. Victor has a medical condition that requires him to get regular treatment. 

Demand the Indonesian authorities grant Victor Yeimo’s immediate release or prosecute him in a fair trial.