Aceh separatists free 'TVRI' crewmen

Ibnu Mat Noor and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Medan

Two technicians of state television broadcasting service TVRI in Banda Aceh have returned to Medan safely after being released by the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Monday, leaving another still held hostage.

Kesuma Wijaya and Bahrum Pohan said, in their first public appearance on Aceh TV news broadcast on Wednesday, that in their homes in Medan that they had been treated properly and felt all right.

The release of Kesuma and Bahrum on Monday was the second after GAM had set free Suheri, also a Banda Aceh TVRI technician, on September 6 due to ill health.

The other man held by the separatist movement in Peureulak, East Aceh, is East Aceh councillor Ghazali Usman, who is reportedly also in poor health.

Spokesman for GAM's Peureulak territory Ishak Daud returned the two TVRI employees in a ceremony to T. Syahrizal Mahmud, chairman of the self-styled Free Deli movement, believed to be descendants of the Deli Sultan. Syahrizal subsequently handed them to Leonardo Escobar of the International Red Cross.

According to Ishak Daud, the release of the TVRI crew members, mostly held for allegedly biased reporting on GAM, was based on "humanitarian considerations, TVRI's growing independence and GAM's solidarity toward the struggle for Free Deli, as the two are of Deli origin."

After their release from a village in Peureulak, the two were taken to Langsa blindfolded, where their wives had been waiting at Hotel Kartika Langsa.

Accompanied by four Banda Aceh TVRI crew members, they later left for the TVRI station of Medan, North Sumatra, to spend the night in Medan before returning home, and have since been unavailable for comment.

Until they spoke on TV, however, the whereabouts of these newly freed hostage victims remained unknown, while The Jakarta Post was told on Monday "their homes in Medan are no longer occupied."

Aceh TVRI Director Kori Hasibuan confirmed on the same day that Kesuma and Bachrum had been safely taken from Peureulak and Langsa to their village homes in Medan.

Meanwhile, Medan TVRI sources said the two had deliberately avoided the mass media following their release in order to calm themselves down.

As admitted to the sources upon arrival at Medan station, during their detention they were not treated harshly and ate the same food as GAM.