An Indonesian human rights organisation has appealed for New Zealand to put pressure on the Indonesian government for the release of political prisoners.

Below is an article published by Scoop:

The arrest and detention of Iwanggin Sabar Olif, Elsham human rights worker in West Papua, is causing great concern to Indonesian and international human rights groups. Mr Olif is understood to be facing charges in relation to an innocuous text message which he did not compose but merely sent on to a few others. Mr Olif was taken from Jayapura to Jakarta where he remains in police custody.

The NZ Government offers training to both the Indonesian military and the police - including a recent workshop in Jayapura for the West Papua police which focused on "community policing" and "conflict management". […]

IHRC [Indonesian Human Rights Committee] says the New Zealand Government has a responsibility to use its leverage with the Indonesian authorities to speak up about the intimidation and harassment of church leaders and human rights defenders, including Mr Olif.