Namah against treaty

 OPPOSITION leader Belden Namah has opposed the extradition treaty signed by the PNG and Indonesian governments this week.

Namah said in a statement yesterday that it was very suspicious that the signing had come in the wake of the case of Indonesian fugitive Djoko Tjandra who was made a citizen after feeling to PNG.

“The process involved in granting Tjandra dual citizenship was illegal and improper by Papua New Guinea laws,” Namah said.

He also criticised Prime Minister Peter O’Neill “for not standing up for our Melanesian brothers”.

“O’Neill is not a Melanesian. If he was, he would feel the pain and sufferings of West Papuans. 

“We have to protect the Melanesian creed or stalk which is constituted by the inhabitants of Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and West Papua.

“Extradition is the official process whereby one country transfers a suspected or convicted criminal to another country.

“The signing of the treaty comes in the wake of the case of Indonesian citizen, Djoko Tjandra, who fled Indonesia to PNG to eventually become a citizen.

“However, the Indonesian government is most likely to use the treaty to seek the extradition of West Papuan activists who have fled Indonesia in fear of reprisals

“We share the same island as West Papuans and we were one before colonial rule divided us. 

“We should be the last country and people to speak against their struggle for self-determination.”