Indigenous Leader Vanishes from West Papua, Reappears in Jakarta Supporting Government Project

Yasinta Moiwend, known as Mama Yasinta, was a prominent figure in 'Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time,' a documentary that garnered over 13 million YouTube views in two weeks and depicted Indigenous Papuans opposing Indonesia's National Strategic Project (PSN), which involves converting millions of hectares of tropical forest and customary land into industrial agricultural zones. Before losing contact with her family in late May 2025, a video circulated online showing her reversing her opposition to the PSN. Her nephew Esau Maguo Kahol and Papua legal aid organisation LBH Papua allege she was picked up by military personnel and district officials and flown to Jakarta on a private jet belonging to PT Jhonlin Group, a company owned by businessman Haji Isam, who is described in the documentary as involved in the food estate project. Five days after her disappearance, Moiwend appeared at Jakarta Metropolitan Police headquarters with a lawyer to file a complaint against the documentary's director and a legal aid official under Indonesia's Personal Data Protection Law, claiming her image was used without consent. Moiwend publicly denied being coerced, saying she travelled independently on a commercial flight, but her family expressed disbelief, questioning how a woman living in extreme poverty could afford flights, accommodation, and legal representation in Jakarta. Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM, has opened an investigation into whether she was pressured, describing her as highly vulnerable due to her poverty, gender, and Indigenous status. The documentary's director, Dandhy Laksono, has urged the public not to judge Moiwend, suggesting the episode is a strategy to shift attention away from the issue of colonialism in Papua.