RI reject Lisbon's accusation about asylum seekers<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has accused Portugal of exploiting the
\nissue of East Timorese youths flocking to foreign embassies to
\nrequest political asylum for its own political advantage.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ghaffar Fadyl,
\nin the latest round of trading accusations with Portugal, said
\nLisbon has been hurling false accusations at Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Lisbon's statement that Indonesia had sought to use the flight
\nof asylum-seekers from East Timor as a political safety valve was
\n"groundless", Fadyl said.<\/p>\n
He also said yesterday that Indonesia has never exerted any
\npressure on East Timorese to flee the province.<\/p>\n
Besides, he said, those who left represented only a small
\nnumber of East Timorese people.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported on Monday Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio
\nGuterres as accusing Indonesia of creating the conditions "for a
\ngeneralized exit of Timorese with the object of easing internal
\npressures".<\/p>\n
"That's baseless. There is no tension in East Timor. It's
\nPortugal which continues to exploit the situation in East Timor
\nfor their own advantage," Ghaffar said here yesterday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the four East Timorese youths who climbed the fence
\ninto the French Embassy to seek asylum left for Portugal last
\nnight under the auspices of the Jakarta office of the
\nInternational Commission of the Red Cross.<\/p>\n
It was the second penetration of the French Embassy by a group
\nof East Timorese asylum seekers in less than a week and the fifth
\nsanctuary bid at Jakarta embassies in two months.<\/p>\n
Henri Fournier of the International Commission of the Red
\nCross told The Jakarta Post the four left for Lisbon on a flight
\nvia Amsterdam, the same route taken by five East Timorese who
\nsought sanctuary in the French Embassy last week.<\/p>\n
The French Embassy declined to comment on the asylum bid.<\/p>\n
Fournier said the International Commission of the Red Cross
\nwas merely helping the Indonesian and French governments to solve
\nthe problem by facilitating the departure of the asylum seekers
\nto the country they wished to enter.<\/p>\n
Foreign missions in Jakarta have boosted security to deter
\nEast Timorese asylum seekers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the district court in Maliana, East Timor, sought a
\nfive-year jail sentence for Sanusi Abubakar, accused of sparking
\nrecent religious tension in the province with statements which
\ndenigrated the local Roman Catholic community.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor, who presented on Monday eight witnesses at a
\ntrial session in Maliana district court presided over by Judge
\nSinansius Misnan, said Sanusi had violated Chapter 156 of the
\nCriminal Code on blasphemy.<\/p>\n
The trial session was adjourned until tomorrow to hear the
\ndefendant's response.(rms\/yac)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-reject-lisbons-accusation-about-asylum-seekers-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}