Filipinos to be deported

Filipinos to be deported

AMBON, Maluku: Immigration authorities in Ternate district
will soon deport 30 Filipino fishermen arrested in February 1997
for entering Indonesian territorial waters illegally.

Head of the local immigration office, Is Budirin, was quoted
by Antara as saying yesterday that the fishermen had been
released from the state penitentiary after serving six month
sentences.

He said his office has contacted the Philippine consul in
Manado, North Sulawesi, regarding their deportation.

He said that after their arrest, the fishermen were detained
for three months while inquiries were proceeding and for a
further nine months while their case was in the hands of the
public prosecutor's office before they were finally handed down
custodial sentences.

Wiem Pattipeilohy, who heads the Maluku Public Prosecutor's
Office, has said on a separate occasion that deportation of the
fishermen has been delayed while the Ternate Public Prosecutor's
Office await the outcome of an appeal to the Provincial High
Court and the Supreme Court regarding the six month sentence
given to the men, rather than one year as demanded by the public
prosecutor during their trial.