TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The family of Papua activist Yasinta Moiwend claimed to have lost contact with the woman affectionately known as Mama Yasinta since Sunday, May 24, 2026. One of Yasinta's children suspects that there was pressure on their mother after Mama Yasinta's name was widely discussed in the media in connection with the movie Pesta Babi.
"We from Mama Yasinta's family want to clarify. Starting from Sunday, May 24, 2026, we lost contact with her," said one of Yasinta's children in a video statement received by Tempo on Saturday, May 30, 2026. The Head of the Greenpeace Forest Campaign Team Arie Rompas confirmed that the video was made by Mama Yasinta's family.
According to Yasinta's child, the family last communicated with Yasinta on Saturday, May 23, 2026. After that, the family was no longer able to contact their mother. She suspects that there were parties that had established communication and plans to take Yasinta out of her village in Kampung Wogekel, Ilwayab District, Merauke, South Papua, without the family's knowledge.
She said Yasinta did not return home on Sunday night and instead stayed overnight at the TNI post in Kampung Wogekel, Ilwayab District, Merauke Regency. The next day, Monday, May 25, 2026, Yasinta was allegedly taken with military personnel assigned to secure the national strategic project (PSN) in Kampung Wanam and district officials. "She was taken without the family's knowledge," she said.
The family suspects that Yasinta was sent off by boat to Merauke. However, on Monday, the family received information that Yasinta would be using a jet plane to Timika, Central Papua. The family claimed not to know for sure Yasinta's whereabouts until Friday, May 29, 2026.
According to Yasinta's child, the family only learned of these developments after several military personnel and district officials returned from Merauke to Kampung Wanam using a helicopter. At that time, she said, communication was made using the mobile phone of one of the military personnel to contact Yasinta, who was said to be in Jakarta.
In the conversation, Yasinta was said to have asked the family to send identity documents such as an identity card (KTP) and a family card (KK). She also conveyed Mama Yasinta's plan to meet with President Prabowo Subianto.
Amid the controversy, Yasinta, along with her legal counsel Hamonangan Daulay, reported the Head of the Merauke Legal Aid Institute with the initials JTW to the Jakarta Metro Jaya Regional Police regarding the movie Pesta Babi. The report was registered with the number LP/B/3843/V/2026/SPKT/Jakarta Metro Jaya Police dated May 29, 2026. Yasinta reported alleged violations of the Personal Data Protection Law.
This step surprised the family because Yasinta is known to be close to the struggle of the indigenous Papuan community who reject the national strategic project in South Papua. Yasinta's child said that communication with their family also occurred after the report to the Jakarta Metro Jaya Regional Police was made. The family believes that there are certain parties intentionally pitting the struggle of the Papuan indigenous community against the interests of the national strategic project. "This is a system built by certain individuals that pits our struggle in asserting customary land in Papua," she said.
The family requested the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), and the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) to monitor Yasinta's whereabouts. They also asked the parties who took Yasinta to promptly return her to the family.
"Until now, we do not know Mama's condition. Whether she is safe in Jakarta or being intimidated," said Yasinta's child.
Mama Yasinta is known as an indigenous woman from Merauke who actively voices opposition to the national strategic project and the expansion of the food industry in South Papua. She often conveys the concerns of the indigenous community about the impact of forest opening and the taking over of ancestral land on the lives of residents in their customary area.
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