'Chief' people-smuggler arrested
'Chief' people-smuggler arrested
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police have arrested an Egyptian here believed to have organized
the voyage of the boat that sank in the Java Sea last month,
killing more than 350 Middle Eastern asylum-seekers trying to
enter Australia illegally, a police officer said in Jakarta on
Wednesday.
National Police Deputy Spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said
Egyptian Abu Quassey alias Abu Kazi alias Centin Kaya Nugun, whom
Australian authorities have accused of being responsible for much
of the human trafficking from the Middle East to Australia, was
arrested on Sunday in Bandung, the provincial capital of West
Java.
It is not clear if the police will extradite Abu Quassey to
Australia, where he has been put on a wanted list for smuggling
Middle Eastern migrants into Australia. Indonesia and Australia
do have an extradition treaty between them.
Prasetyo said a police officer, identified as Brig. Agus
Safuan, stationed in Lembang, West Java, and three Iraqis were
also involved in smuggling activities.
"Police are now hunting down the three Iraqis," he said. It is
not clear if the police officer Agus Safuan has been detained.
Prasetyo said Quassey was apprehended following testimonies
from survivors of the ill-fated boat.
"They (the survivors) mentioned Quassey's name and also his
accomplice, a local policeman. The two are now being grilled
intensively here," he said referring to the National Police
Headquarters.
"An investigation is being carried out by officers from the
intelligence unit with assistance from the 44 survivors of the
boat mishap," Prasetyo said.
According to Prasetyo, Middle Eastern people boarding the boat
were transported in four buses from Bogor, West Java to Bakaheuni
Port in Merak, Banten and then to Lampung. The convoy was tightly
guarded by police officer Agus and several men wearing military-
like battle fatigue uniforms.
In Lampung, the asylum-seekers stayed at the Amarta Agung
Hotel in South Lampung for two days before they left for
Australia aboard the leaky vessel.
Prasetyo refused to comment on suggestions that certain
military personnel were involved in smuggling activities, saying:
"We haven't reached that conclusion. Quassey and Agus are still
being questioned. We hope to fish out more information from them
so that we can arrest others who are involved."
Asked whether the police would deport Quassey to his country
or process him under Indonesian law, Prasetyo said first he
(Quassey) had to be questioned in accordance with local law but
coordination with the immigration office was already arranged.
"We treat him as an ordinary suspect of a crime because he was
arrested here for the crimes he committed here but we are also in
coordination with the immigration office to determine further
steps," Prasetyo told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.
Quassey is being questioned for violating Law No 9/1992 on
immigration which carries a maximum penalty of six years
imprisonment and a Rp 30 million fine.
Australia has long urged Jakarta to crack down on human
smugglers, but Indonesia had been reluctant until the October
incident in which an overcrowded boat bound for Australia's
Christmas Island sank off Java, killing more than 350 people.
The vast Indonesian archipelago is the staging post for many
asylum-seekers -- mainly from the Middle East -- who try to reach
Australia on leaky fishing boats organized by smugglers who make
millions of dollars out of the trade.