Aceh separatists free 'TVRI' crewmen<\/p>\n
Ibnu Mat Noor and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Medan<\/p>\n
Two technicians of state television broadcasting service TVRI
\nin Banda Aceh have returned to Medan safely after being released
\nby the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Monday, leaving
\nanother still held hostage.<\/p>\n
Kesuma Wijaya and Bahrum Pohan said, in their first public
\nappearance on Aceh TV news broadcast on Wednesday, that in their
\nhomes in Medan that they had been treated properly and felt all
\nright.<\/p>\n
The release of Kesuma and Bahrum on Monday was the second
\nafter GAM had set free Suheri, also a Banda Aceh TVRI technician,
\non September 6 due to ill health.<\/p>\n
The other man held by the separatist movement in Peureulak,
\nEast Aceh, is East Aceh councillor Ghazali Usman, who is
\nreportedly also in poor health.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for GAM's Peureulak territory Ishak Daud returned
\nthe two TVRI employees in a ceremony to T. Syahrizal Mahmud,
\nchairman of the self-styled Free Deli movement, believed to be
\ndescendants of the Deli Sultan. Syahrizal subsequently handed
\nthem to Leonardo Escobar of the International Red Cross.<\/p>\n
According to Ishak Daud, the release of the TVRI crew members,
\nmostly held for allegedly biased reporting on GAM, was based on
\n\"humanitarian considerations, TVRI's growing independence and
\nGAM's solidarity toward the struggle for Free Deli, as the two
\nare of Deli origin.\"<\/p>\n
After their release from a village in Peureulak, the two were
\ntaken to Langsa blindfolded, where their wives had been waiting
\nat Hotel Kartika Langsa.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by four Banda Aceh TVRI crew members, they later
\nleft for the TVRI station of Medan, North Sumatra, to spend the
\nnight in Medan before returning home, and have since been
\nunavailable for comment.<\/p>\n
Until they spoke on TV, however, the whereabouts of these
\nnewly freed hostage victims remained unknown, while The Jakarta
\nPost was told on Monday \"their homes in Medan are no longer
\noccupied.\"<\/p>\n
Aceh TVRI Director Kori Hasibuan confirmed on the same day
\nthat Kesuma and Bachrum had been safely taken from Peureulak and
\nLangsa to their village homes in Medan.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Medan TVRI sources said the two had deliberately
\navoided the mass media following their release in order to calm
\nthemselves down.<\/p>\n
As admitted to the sources upon arrival at Medan station,
\nduring their detention they were not treated harshly and ate the
\nsame food as GAM.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aceh-separatists-free-tvri-crewmen-1447893297",
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