"The rights of New Zealanders have been infringed," stated the composer of the musical piece 'Papua Merdeka' which was withdrawn at the Asia Pacific Festival in Wellington in New Zealand on 17 February 2007. The New Zealand Indonesia human rights committee condemned the move as "deplorable censorship".

According to the human rights committee, Indonesian embassy officials had advised the festival's organisers of the embassy's opposition to the musical item, and the performance was then cancelled. Instead it was shown in a closed session. The human rights committee found it especially disturbing that a composition has been banned because the word "freedom" (merdeka) is part of its title.

Political theme
Composer Dr Martin Wesley Smith includes a strong political theme in much of his music, and he had written the piece in support of the self-determination movement in the Indonesia.

He told Radio New Zealand International it was an issue of free speech:
"That New Zealanders are denied the right to hear and see what they would like to, perhaps, by pressure from a foreign embassy, which I wouldn't be happy about if I was a New Zealander."

Embassy: No pressure, only concern
Tri Purnajaya from the Indonesian embassy in Wellington told the radio station that they didn't pressure the organisers to withdraw the piece but simply were concerned that it would upset visitors:

"It might hurt the people from Indonesia who are here also – their feelings. To talk about Indonesia in a different way will somehow, I think, cause them to feel upset," Mr Purnajaya told to the listeners of Radio New Zealand International .