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.