REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAGELANG - Separatism of any kind in Indonesia must be stopped because it poses a serious threat to national integrity, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) said in Magelang, Central Java, on Thursday. "The attempts of those who want to secede from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) are best described not as the freedom of speech but as separatism. It must be stopped," the President said during his speech to the National Defence Forces (TNI) and the National Police (Polri) cadets at the Magelang Military Academy.

Yudhoyono made the statement in response to a question from one of the cadets with regard to problems that TNI and the Polri personnel faced when carrying out their duties. The head of state said the nation`s security personnel should take the strongest possible action against separatist forces without violating human rights. 

Citing an example, SBY talked about the approach taken by the security forces to tackle separatism in Papua.

"The government took the strongest possible action against the separatist forces in Papua without resorting to massive military operations," he stated. "The government has taken a societal approach to deal with separatism in Papua," the President said before 836 military and police cadets who had just finished their education and training at Magelang Military and Police Academy.

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