RI rejects people-smuggling charge<\/p>\n
PERTH, Australia: An Indonesian national pleaded innocent to
\ncharges of people smuggling Friday, claiming he was on a boat
\nheaded for Australia because he was a Christian fleeing religious
\nstrife at home.<\/p>\n
Jacky Lerebulan, 19, is one of three Indonesians who appeared
\nin a West Australian District court on charges of attempting to
\nsmuggle 219 mainly Iraqi asylum seekers to Australia in October
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
Lerebulan and his co-defendants, Geri Bebri Iraratu, 19, and
\nGanjang, 33, who like many Indonesians use only one name, have
\nall denied they were crew members on the boat which was
\nintercepted by the Australian navy.<\/p>\n
Under Australian law, people smuggling carries a maximum
\nsentence of 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n
Lerebulan said he was fleeing violence between Christians and
\nMuslims in Ambon, the capital of the Maluku province.<\/p>\n
Eighty five percent of Indonesia's 215 million people are
\nMuslims, but the population of the Maluku Islands, which have
\nbeen wracked by religious violence since 1999, is evenly divided
\nbetween Christians and Muslims. At least 5,000 people have died
\nin the fighting. -- AFP<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-rejects-people-smuggling-charge-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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