JAKARTA ~ Police said this week they had charged six people with subversion after they raised an outlawed separatist flag in remote Papua province.

Papua police spokesman Agus Rianto said the six had unfurled the outlawed “Free Papua” flag on Saturday Fak Fak district in front of the office of the United Struggle Front of West Papuan People, a group which favors a self-determination vote for the province.

“We named them suspects and charged them with plotting against the state that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years,” Rianto said.

Indonesia won sovereignty over Papua, a former Dutch colony on the western half of New Guinea island, in 1969 after a vote among a select group of Papuans widely seen as a sham.

Papuans have long accused Indonesia’s military of violating human rights in the province and complain that the bulk of earnings from its rich natural resources flow to Jakarta.