Hostage ordeal survivors attend friend's funeral
JAKARTA (JP): The six European and three Indonesian survivors of the four-month hostage ordeal in Irian Jaya joined relatives and friends in mourning and burying Navy Panekenan, their fellow captive who was killed on Wednesday by the abductors as rescuing soldiers closed in.
Navy Panekenan, the 28-year-old joint leader of an Indonesian- British expedition of young scientists to Irian Jaya, was buried with military honors after a Christian service.
His 25-year-old girlfriend, Adinda Saraswati, another of the hostages seized on January 8 by rebels of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), attended the funeral in a wheelchair with her right foot in bandages.
She was lifted towards the open coffin by friends to kiss Panekenan a final farewell and placed a ring on his finger before he was lowered into the grave. Newspaper reports claim they had planned to marry after the expedition.
Yosias Matheis Lasamahu, another hostage who died after the fleeing rebels slashed him with machetes and left him to bleed to death before the troops could reach him, was buried in a separate funeral service in Bandung, West Java, 180 km from the capital.
Yosias, who was also given military honors after a Christian service, was buried near the grave of his father, Leonard C.J. Lasamahu. His mother, Sarah, slumped into the open coffin and rubbed Yosias' feet, keening: "Theis...Theis..."
The bodies of the two men were handed over on Thursday night by Armed Forces (ABRI) chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Soeyono to the Ministry of Forestry, the agency that gave them permission to conduct the expedition. The ministry's secretary general Oetomo then handed over the bodies to the grieving families.
Yesterday, Soeyono handed over the Indonesian survivors to their families and the European survivors to their respective embassies in a tightly guarded ceremony at Gatot Subroto army hospital in Central Jakarta.
Dutch Ambassador Paul R. Brouwer and British Ambassador Graham Burton attended the ceremony, as did Brig. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, commander of the Army's Special Force, Kopassus, whose soldiers were instrumental in the freeing of the hostages.
ABRI secured the nine hostages: Britons Daniel Start, William P. Oates, Annette van der Kolk and Anna McIvor, Dutch nationals Mark van der Wal, the heavily pregnant Martha Klein, and Indonesians Adinda Saraswati, Jualita M. Tanasale and Markus Warip in a special operation on Wednesday at the Geselama mountain village in Irian.
The badly wounded bodies of Navy Panekenan and Yosias Lasamahu were found on Thursday.
After the handing-over ceremony, Daniel Start said: "It's great to be free, but it's obviously marred by the tragic death of the two Indonesians."
According to Soeyono, the former hostages have lost between 10 and 15 kilograms, are traumatized and suffering from insomnia, depression, skin problems as well as assorted injuries.
He added that Martha Klein's pregnancy was normal.
Burton and Brouwer yesterday conveyed their thanks to the Indonesian government, and ABRI, for the release of their citizens.
"It was the happiest day for us, especially the hostages' families in London, when we heard that they were safe," Burton said.
Neither ambassador revealed when the European survivors would return to their countries.
Promotion
Also yesterday, Soeyono said ABRI is considering promoting the military officers involved in the special operation to rescue the hostages.
"Promotion is given every time officers carry out their special operations duties successfully," Soeyono said.
The rescue operation, launched on May 9 following the failure of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) to secure the hostages' release, was led by Prabowo, President Soeharto's son-in-law.
Prabowo first received a special promotion in 1978 after he led an operation in East Timor against separatist Fretilin leaders.
Yesterday he reiterated Kopassus' intention to keep going after separatist rebels in Irian Jaya.
Soeyono said earlier that ABRI was still trying to find rebel leaders Kellik Kwalik and Daniel Kagoya.
"The rescue operation is finished but we are continuing with another operation: pursuing the rebels," he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Forestry Djamaluddin Soerjohadikoesoemo said that from now on Irian Jaya would be temporarily closed for all scientific expeditions, and would not be reopened until the Armed Forces guarantee it's safe. (01/16/17/swe)