Aid workers arrested in Banda Aceh
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Security personnel have again arrested aid workers in the violence-ravaged province of Aceh, following a high-profile arrest to an environmental activist earlier this year.
The latest arrests of the two humanitarian workers, the first arrest of civilian Aceh activists since martial law status was downgraded slightly in May, happened on Friday, according to chief of the Banda Aceh police Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Daniyanto.
The police officer said on Tuesday that the two aid workers from the Aceh Humanitarian Volunteer Association (Pemraka) were arrested for alleged involvement with the Aceh separatist movement along with 11 other people in the Pemraka office in Banda Aceh.
Pemraka was established in 1999 to help refugees and provide medical aid to the victims of war between the Indonesian military (TNI) and the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
"Out of the 13, seven have been released due to a lack of evidence, while six others, including the two humanitarian activists, are still facing questioning about their alleged involvement with GAM," said Eko.
The two humanitarian activists in question were Asnawi and Fahrizal. Both are students at a university in Banda Aceh.
The others are Amir, Marzuki, Syamsul and Ilias, all Banda Aceh civilians claimed by the police to be members of GAM. Eko claimed that the four were GAM guerrillas staying in Pemraka's office.
The police officer said that the two humanitarian workers were arrested and charged with harboring GAM members.
Eko said that the arrest was made after the police got a tip- off from "locals".
Besides arresting the six, the police also confiscated from the Pemraka activists a document belonging to a non-governmental organization (NGO) Papua Aceh Solidarity, a desktop computer and a box of medicine.
Meanwhile, other Pemraka activists condemned the arrests of their two colleagues.
In a press release made available to the media on Tuesday, they also said that Pemraka only focused on helping the victims of conflict in Aceh.
The arrest of the aid workers followed another arrest of a civilian activist, Bestari Raden an environmental researcher.
Bestari was arrested in southeast Aceh on Feb. 26, while he was visiting the area to evaluate the feasibility of the Ladia Galaska highway project that cuts across North Sumatra and Aceh provinces. He is still apparently alive and in police custody but no trial has been conducted.
According to the TNI, they arrested Bestari because of his alleged involvement with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), saying that Bestari served as GAM's leader for the Tapak Tuan area in 2000.
The Ladia Galaska project, which passes through the protected Leuser National Park, home to many of the country's endangered species, has drawn strong opposition from foreign groups and local environmental activists, including Bestari.
Munir, cofounder of the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), has said that the arrest was apparently aimed at silencing government opposition, especially on Ladia Galaska project.