When legislators' lives are at stake in Aceh<\/p>\n
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Zaini Ali was walking in the front yard of Runtoh mosque in
\nbroad daylight in the town of Sigli in Aceh on the weekend when
\ngunshots were heard.<\/p>\n
The legislator from Pidie regency, North Aceh, died on the
\nspot. It was Friday, only a day after Aceh figures and visiting
\nVice President Hamzah Haz had agreed to say no to violence and
\nyes to negotiations.<\/p>\n
Zaini, a former vice chairman of the Golkar functional group
\nin Pidie during the Soeharto years, who became head of the
\nCrescent Star Party of Pidie chapter, knew that his life had been
\nunder threat for some time. (Golkar changed its name to the
\n\"Golkar party\" only after Soeharto fell from power in 1998).<\/p>\n
He moved from his house to the regent's guest house in Pidie,
\nabout three kilometers away, exactly three months ago to evade
\nhis assassins. That was after unidentified people had set fire to
\nhis house.<\/p>\n
After the incident Zaini moved to Banda Aceh, which is 112
\nkilometers from Sigli, along with his family. He took his family
\nback to his house after it had been repaired but he still refused
\nto sleep there.<\/p>\n
Zaini, who was a former chief of the tax office in Pidie, was
\nthe fifth Acehnese figure to be assassinated this year. He was
\nonce appointed as chairman of the House of Regional
\nRepresentatives for Pidie regency in 1999.<\/p>\n
\"We received a telephoned death threat prior to the burning of
\nour house,\" Fatimah, 50, wife of Zaini, was quoted as saying by
\nMuharizal Hasan, a human rights activist.<\/p>\n
Muharizal said both Zaini's family and local villagers claimed
\nthey did not recognize the killers.<\/p>\n
Pidie military commander Lt. Col. Supartodi said on Saturday
\nthat a youth was being questioned in relation to the killing.<\/p>\n
He said he suspected supporters of the Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM) were behind the killing.<\/p>\n
\"We learned that GAM had invited Zaini to join not so long ago
\nbut he had refused. Afterwards, he often received death threats
\nand at one point he fled to Jakarta, only to return recently to
\nprepare for the election of a new regent,\" Supartodi said.<\/p>\n
A GAM spokesman told Serambi Indonesia newspaper that it was
\nnot involved in the shooting of Zaini.<\/p>\n
\"We fiercely condemn this killing. GAM will punish the
\nperpetrator,\" Abu Razak said.<\/p>\n
He added that it was in GAM's interest to protect Zaini as he
\nwas a public figure in Pidie.<\/p>\n
\"It is illogical that GAM should have killed him, especially
\nas GAM members are staying in the barracks,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Supartodi said all witnesses to the killing had claimed that
\nthey did not recognize the killers.<\/p>\n
\"It is possible, though, that they were simply too scared to
\nsay,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Fear has gripped locals and legislators alike in Pidie for
\nmonths, said a member of staff at the legislative office, who
\nrefused to be identified.<\/p>\n
No legislators stayed in their homes, he said, some slept at
\ntheir party offices, others took rooms on a monthly basis at low-
\npriced hotels.<\/p>\n
\"Others hop from one relative's home to another,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Those legislators who lived far away from Sigli never went
\nhome even during daytime. If they wanted to meet with their
\nfamilies, the latter would go to their lodging houses in Sigli.<\/p>\n
Asked to comment about it, Supartodi said the military was
\ntaking an umbrella security measure to protect legislators when
\nthey left their houses, even in Sigli itself.<\/p>\n
Five legislators have been killed in the last three years.
\nAnother legislator, Aly Djauhari, from the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle, disappeared months ago. Another one, Ghazali
\nUsman, a legislator from the East Aceh chapter of the National
\nMandate Party was kidnapped by GAM three months ago.<\/p>\n
What the Acehnese need most today is freedom from fear. Those
\nwho have weapons often take the law into their own hands. Truth
\nhas come from the tip of a gun. Everyone, from common people to
\nlegislators, is gripped by fear.<\/p>\n
It is not unusual that legislators have to flee Aceh from time
\nto time, human rights activist Maimul Fidar said.
\nThere were times that they convened their meetings in Jakarta and
\nin West Java, he said.<\/p>\n
Aceh legislator Mustafa Abdullah, however, disagreed that Aceh
\nlegislators had occasionally fled to Jakarta out of fear.<\/p>\n
\"It is not out of fear. They have important meetings outside
\nAceh. That is the reason,\" he said.<\/p>\n
There is resentment among many Acehnese that legislators all
\ntoo easily leave their constituents at times of crisis.<\/p>\n
Legislators, on the other hand, have an intrinsic fear for
\ntheir legitimacy, as 75 percent of Aceh's electorate did not vote
\nin the 1999 elections.<\/p>",
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