Mr Smas is a West Papuan independence activist. At the time of his arrest, he and ten other individuals were in the process of informing locals about plans to protest at the Sorong Mayor’s Office the following day. The planned protest was to commemorate the proclamation of independence of the West Papua New Guinea Republic.
Lukas Smas was arrested along with Lukas Nauw, Joshua Kingho, Fengky Nauw, Daniel Jitmau, Melfin Werfete, Paulus Syama, Silvester Nauw, Simon Aifat, Wilson Kofias and Yanpiter Yewen. They were arrested by the police in Sorong on 26 November 2019 for allegedly preparing to participate in the 1st of December Morning Star Flag Raising ceremony.
At the time of his arrest, Mr Smas was travelling in a pick-up truck with his ten companions. The group was carrying a hat and T-shirt bearing the Morning Star symbol, in addition to a banner. During the arrest, the police confiscated the group’s banner, in addition to the pickup-truck. The police did not provide any arrest warrant. They were subsequently charged and detained for treason. All are currently in prison, waiting for their trial process to begin. All were sentenced to 10 months in prison for conspiracy to commit crimes agains the state under Article 110 of the Criminal Code and has since been released.
