Ms Mandabayan is a former Member of the Sorong City Council; she was fired as a result of her arrest. Ms Mandabayan participated in peaceful protests on 19 and 27 August 2019 in Sorong City, including by delivering speeches. When she was arrested at Manokwari Airport on 2 September 2019, Ms Mandabayan had just arrived from Sorong City to attend a protest in Manokwari City that day.
She was sentenced to 9 months in prison for incitement attempt written and oral in public and not for treason on 27 May 2020. On 3rd June she was released. Three days later she spoke about racist Indonesian law as an ex-political prisoner in a webinar held by the student body of Universitas Indonesia. She has been campaigning for West Papua’s self-determination. On 29 July 2020 she was summoned and interrogated for hate speech at the police station over a Facebook post.
