Fery reunited with family
Fery reunited with family
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In a tearful celebration on Tuesday, RCTI cameraman Fery Santoro
was reunited with his family after being held hostage for almost
a year by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group.
Ferry's wife, Mayawati Hendraningrum, and his five-year-old
son Ferdy, were overcome with emotion upon seeing Fery finally
arrive home unscathed.
Their year-long ordeal came to an end shortly after the plane
carrying Fery from Polonia airport in Medan landed at Soekarno-
Hatta airport here on Tuesday evening.
Fery looked thin and has reportedly lost 20 kilograms while in
GAM captivity.
Dozens of journalists who had been awaiting Fery's arrival
struggled to get close to him after a planned press conference
was canceled for unknown reasons.
Fery held a media conference in Medan earlier in the day, when
he recounted the events leading up to his release.
The Journalists who voluntarily participated in securing his
release -- Imam Wahyudi and Munir of RCTI television, Nezar
Patria of Tempo magazine and Husni Arifin of the Republika daily
-- also flew with Fery from Medan to Jakarta.
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, who is also
the presidential candidate of the National Mandate Party (PAN),
was among those who greeted Fery at the airport.
After a brief reunion with his family, Fery was received by
President Megawati Soekarnoputri at the State Palace later in the
day.
Megawati had earlier made remarks apparently showing a lack of
concern for the fate of journalists in conflict areas, saying
that Fery and his fellow journalist Ersa Siregar's capture by GAM
was a risk they had to accept as part of their jobs.
Fery was released along with another 150 civilian hostages
after tense negotiations facilitated by the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and five journalists, including
The Jakarta Post's Nani Farida.
Fery's colleague Ersa was tragically killed in what the
Indonesian Military (TNI) claim was a gun battle with the rebels
in December last year.