Hamzah calls for diplomatic solution on Buyung expulsion
Hamzah calls for diplomatic solution on Buyung expulsion
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian Vice President Hamzah Haz and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs appear to be at odds over Malaysia's expulsion and ban of
a prominent Indonesian lawyer.
Hamzah called on Friday for the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala
Lumpur to seek clarification from the Malaysian government and to
seek a diplomatic solution to the controversy surrounding Adnan
Buyung Nasution's eviction from Malaysia.
"It will be better if we settle this through diplomatic
channels," Hamzah was quoted as saying by Antara.
However, foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa also said
on Friday that it was the basic right of every country to
administer their own migration flow.
"Each country is not obligated to explain their reasoning in
rejecting foreigners entering the country. I underlined that it
could happen to anybody, so we have to view the case
proportionally," Marty said.
He further said that the ministry was fully aware the case
should be properly addressed, but reiterated that such practices
were the basic right of each country.
The noted lawyer was denied entry into Malaysia on Tuesday,
with the immigration authority saying it was an instruction from
the government.
A spokesman for the Immigration Department of Malaysia in
Kuala Lumpur, who requested anonymity, told The Jakarta Post that
Buyung was deported due to internal security matters.
He refused to elaborate during the telephone interview with
the Post.
The incident has fueled an already heated relationship between
the neighboring countries, sparked by Malaysia's deportation of
hundreds of thousands of Indonesian illegal workers last August.
Buyung's companion Bunga Trihusodo told The Jakarta Post that
Buyung visited Malaysia at the invitation of the Malaysian
opposition party led by Wan Azizah, the wife of jailed former
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, also the former deputy prime
minister of Malaysia.
The lawyer, known for his role in defending Indonesian
Military (TNI) officials in several human rights abuses cases,
brought with him a petition asking the Malaysian government to
permit Ibrahim to undergo medical treatment abroad in the name of
human rights.
"The petition was signed by 22 noted Indonesian persons from
various walks of life for Ibrahim to receive proper medical
treatment," Bunga said.
Signatories included, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker
Amien Rais, Muslim leaders, scholars and senior journalists.
Regarding the petition, Hamzah underlined that Indonesians
should not interfere with neighboring countries' policies, as
they were the internal affairs of sovereign nations.
"We cannot interfere in other country's policies and
regulations,' he said.
Meanwhile, outside the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta dozens of
people staged a protest against the expulsion of Buyung and
demanded the Malaysian government clarify the incident.
The embassy compound has become a magnet for protests, in
light of the migrant workers plight in August.
Names of the Indonesian Leaders support the peititon
Amien Rais, Iskandar Alisyahbana, Ignas Kleden, Deliar Noer,
Ichalsul Amal, Jakob Oetama, Fahmi Idris, Mochtar Pabottingi,
Djaffar Assegaff, Syafii Ma'arif, Imaduddin, Aristides Katoppo,
Solahuddin Wahid, Dawam Rahardjo, W.S. Rendra, Johanes Harriyanto,
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Ramadhan K.H., Taufik Abdullah, T.H. Sumartana,
Munarman, Mulyana W. Kusumah