Five Acehnese arrested in Kupang for fake papers

Five Acehnese arrested in Kupang for fake papers

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

Police in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, have detained five Acehnese
people, allegedly members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), for
having falsified identity cards and passports.

The Acehnese people, among the 27 Acehnese people whose
presence was detected at the border between East Timor and
Indonesia, were detained at the local police's detention cell in
the city.

"They have been in the province for one month, we are
investigating why they are here. The important thing is that they
have falsified identity cards and passports.

"We have a suspicion that they have a special mission in the
province. It is strange that they could get their identity cards
and passports within a month. Even more unbelievable is that they
left their hometown in Aceh to seek work in this least-developed
province," Kupang Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. F.F.
Jeremias Mirah told The Jakarta Post here on Friday.

Jeremias said the police would focus their investigation on
the detainees' purpose for being in East Nusa Tenggara.

"We are coordinating with the police in their hometown to
check whether they are true job seekers or members of GAM," he
said.

He added the five were arrested on Thursday after police
received reports from local people alerting them of their
presence in the city.

The five were identified as Ah, Bh alias Jn, L, Af and Bs, all
from Beringin Village, Bureauleuk Subdistrict, Central Aceh
Regency.

Three others identified as Br, Am and Gn were believed to have
escaped police arrest.

"We are chasing the three," said Jeremias.

He said further the eight were among 27 Acehnese people whose
presence in Atambua was detected by the military in Belu Regency
last week.

The Acehnese detainees said they arrived in Kupang from
Atambua in mid May with the main purpose of seeking work in the
city.

"We are not criminals. We came here to seek work," Bh said in
his cell at the police precinct.

He said he and his colleagues returned from the border areas
to Kupang after they were refused entry into East Timor because
they were using fake passports.

"We are here on our way home to Aceh. We need to stay here for
some months to make money because we have no more money for the
trip home," he said.

Asked why they changed their name on their identity cards, Bh
said they did not want the security authorities to know their
true identity because Acehnese were often branded as being
associated with GAM.

Meanwhile, East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo said it
was quite strange that Acehnese people would came to a poor
province to seek work.

"The reason is baseless because the province is poor and has
no industries where they could work. It is very strange that they
left their rich hometown in Aceh which has many industries where
they could seek work," he said, adding that he believed that the
Acehnese people came to the province with certain political
motives.

Col. Moesanip Moeswarno, chief of the Kupang Military
District, said he suspected that the Acehnese people were
members, or supporters of GAM and they were trying to enter East
Timor to learn how the new country fought for separation from
Indonesia.