Source of picture : BBC News
The HARDtalk program which featured a special interview featuring Stephen Sackur of BBC Television and Free Papua activist Benny Wenda clearly revealed the lies and cunning of Benny Wenda. The program aired on Wednesday, September 9, 2019, shows inexplicably how dishonest Benny Wenda is in answering Stephen Sackur’s questions.
Stephen Sackur began his interview by asking for Benny Wenda’s view of the Indonesian government’s statement stating that the wave of demonstrations carried out by Papuans was now beginning to subside and the situation in Indonesia was controlled and safe. Benny Wenda did not give an answer to the statement, instead emphasizing that the struggle of the people of Papua so far has been carried out peacefully for the sake of fighting for an independent Papua. The Indonesian government has always been accused by Benny Wenda of always carrying out acts of propaganda and violence.
But this principle of peaceful demonstrations echoed by Benny Wenda was later broken by Stephen Sackur. Stephen revealed the murder of a number of road construction workers in December 2018 in Papua carried out by an armed Papuan separatist group which certainly has an alliance with Benny Wenda as the leader of the Free Papua movement. The existence of violent, armed Papuan separatist groups is proof that the peaceful action of the Papuans movement has been a lie.
Benny Wenda was even more cornered because he was unable to provide an answer when Stephen Sackur asked whether Benny could justify the armed struggle that had been carried out by Papuan separatists. Benny Wenda has repeatedly stressed that he always leads peaceful demonstrations and non-violence but this answer did not seem to satisfy Stephen Sackur who later said to Benny Wenda, “Your statement was telling in many ways and indeed moving..but you did not answer my question.”
Stephen Sackur then exposed Benny Wenda off by elaborating upon a younger Benny Wenda who had, in the past, led a series of violent demonstrations and protests against the Indonesian government.
Benny Wenda was again beaten down when he repeated the old accusations of the massacre and murder of up to five hundred thousand Papuans since Papua became part of Indonesia. When Stephen Sackur asked what was the evidence of the accusation? Benny Wenda was the spitting image of a man confused and grasping at straws, arguing that accusing the Indonesian government of closing media access to Indonesia was the reason for the difficulty in getting information about conditions in Papua.
The legality of Benny Wenda who claimed to be the leader of the independent Papua movement was also later questioned by Stephen Sackur who referred to a statement made by one of the leaders of the Free Papua movement, Jeffrey Bomanak. As Chairman of the National Army for the Liberation of West Papua (TPBPB), Jeffrey Bomanak recently emphasized that he would continue to carry out armed struggle, completely disowning and rejecting, the official statement issued by Benny and did not accept him as the official leader.
Dishonesty and Benny Wenda’s fraudalent attitude demonstrates that he is stubbornly unwilling to open his eyes to the developments and advances that occurred in Papua during the interview. When Stephen Sackur raised the issue of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s policy to open up as much access to the progress of the people of Papua through infrastructure development, road construction, economic development and natural resources, all these positive policies were denied. Benny Wenda alleges that all of the Indonesian government’s policies are merely aimed at opening access to Indonesian military personnel entering Papua. Pessimist Stephen Sackur then left a question that struck Benny Wenda. He stated that if you turn a blind eye to all this development then the people of Papua might become very very poor.
The BBC interview with Benny Wenda really illustrated the ugliness and shame that Benny Wenda has within. An interview conducted by BBC Television that has been known to have high credibility according to Tell The Truths is very inspiring for citizens of the world to judge honestly how the struggle of Benny Wenda who has been full of provocation and lies
