Austrian embassy urged to hand over asylum seekers
Austrian embassy urged to hand over asylum seekers
JAKARTA (JP): Pressure grew on the Austrian Embassy yesterday
to hand over two East Timorese currently seeking refuge at the
embassy and suspected of being involved in terrorist activities
by police.
As legislator Zamharir AR called on Austria to stop protecting
the two individuals whom he called "criminals", a small protest
was separately held in front of the embassy on Jl. Diponegoro,
Central Jakarta.
Zamharir said the Austrian embassy should not protect alleged
terrorists.
"These two East Timorese are suspected to be criminals by the
authorities," Zamharir was quoted by Antara as saying.
He added that the embassy should understand that and hand them
over to the Indonesian government.
Six East Timorese entered the Austrian Embassy under the
pretext of applying for visas on Sept. 19. Later they said they
were seeking political asylum to Portugal claiming they "felt in
danger".
Two of them, Avelino Maria Coelho da Silva and Nuno Vicente
Pereira Saldanha, are strongly suspected by the military of being
involved in terrorist activities involving other East Timorese.
The Indonesian government has appealed to the Austrian Embassy
to hand over the two, but the request has not been met.
East Timor observer Domingos M. Policarpo dos Reis also said
the embassy should give up Avelino and Nuno if there was any
indication of involvement in terrorist activities.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry's director for foreign
information Ghaffar Fadyl said the government maintained its
stance of not allowing the two East Timorese to leave for
Portugal.
"Just like what has been explained by Minister of Foreign
Affairs Ali Alatas that the two would not be allowed to leave the
country," he said.
But, he added, the four other East Timorese would be allowed
to leave since they were not believed to have committed any
crimes.
The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as
Indonesia's 27th province in 1976. (10)