Indonesia protests to Malaysia over patrol boat incident
Indonesia protests to Malaysia over patrol boat incident
Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry summoned the Malaysian
charge d'affaires on Friday to demand an explanation over an
incident in Indonesian waters last week, in which Malaysian naval
officers are said to have used force to help free fishermen
arrested by Indonesian police for illegal fishing.
Yuri Oktavian Thamrin, a ministry spokesman, said that the
Indonesian government had urged the Malaysians, represented at
Friday's meeting by charge d'affaires Misri Barham, to
investigate the incident.
He said the Indonesian government would demand that "stern
measures" be taken against those involved in the incident that
took place in North Sumatra waters, near the international sea
lanes of the Malacca Strait.
"We are probing the possibility of a territorial violation.
But we have also asked Malaysia to investigate the incident. If
the Malaysians are found to have violated the law, we would ask
their government to take disciplinary action against their naval
officers, and to extradite the fishermen to face justice here,"
Yuri told reporters on Friday.
He added that Indonesia and Malaysia had signed an extradition
treaty in 1974.
Officials from the Malaysian Embassy were not available for
comment on Friday. But earlier, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed
Hamid Albar said the incident should be treated with caution.
"Sometimes along waters and coastal areas, there can be a
misunderstanding but we have to handle it carefully so that it
will not flare-up into something that will turn into a conflict,"
he was quoted by Reuters as saying on the sidelines of a regional
security conference in Laos.
Last Wednesday, Indonesian police arrested three Malaysian
trawlers that were allegedly poaching in three separate locations
in the waters off Jemur island (not Jumhur island) in North
Sumatra. The police then started to escort them to the nearest
port of Belawan for questioning.
En route to the port, the Malaysian warship KP Knembela 14 and
an M-502 helicopter approached, prompting the fishermen to put up
a fight using machetes and iron bars, said Brig. Gen. N. Sutisna,
the director of the Water Police squad, on Thursday.
Sutisna said that the Indonesian police had been "forced at
gun point" by Malaysian seamen to release the fishermen. He said
Malaysian officers also "intimidated" and forced the Indonesian
officers to board the Malaysian naval vessel.
He noted that because the Indonesian police were outnumbered,
they did not fight back and released the trawlers after an
argument with Malaysian Navy officers.
Sutisna said that police had contacted their Malaysian
counterparts asking that they arrest the poachers and hand them
over to Indonesia, but to no avail.
The has incident added to a series of territorial disputes
involving the Indonesian and Malaysian navies. Indonesian and
Malaysian warships brushed against each other on April 8 in the
border area near the disputed Ambalat oil and gas block in the
Sulawesi Sea.
Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry summoned the Malaysian
charge d'affaires on Friday to demand an explanation over an
incident in Indonesian waters last week, in which Malaysian naval
officers are said to have used force to help free fishermen
arrested by Indonesian police for illegal fishing.
Yuri Oktavian Thamrin, a ministry spokesman, said that the
Indonesian government had urged the Malaysians, represented at
Friday's meeting by charge d'affaires Misri Barham, to
investigate the incident.
He said the Indonesian government would demand that "stern
measures" be taken against those involved in the incident that
took place in North Sumatra waters, near the international sea
lanes of the Malacca Strait.
"We are probing the possibility of a territorial violation.
But we have also asked Malaysia to investigate the incident. If
the Malaysians are found to have violated the law, we would ask
their government to take disciplinary action against their naval
officers, and to extradite the fishermen to face justice here,"
Yuri told reporters on Friday.
He added that Indonesia and Malaysia had signed an extradition
treaty in 1974.
Officials from the Malaysian Embassy were not available for
comment on Friday. But earlier, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed
Hamid Albar said the incident should be treated with caution.
"Sometimes along waters and coastal areas, there can be a
misunderstanding but we have to handle it carefully so that it
will not flare-up into something that will turn into a conflict,"
he was quoted by Reuters as saying on the sidelines of a regional
security conference in Laos.
Last Wednesday, Indonesian police arrested three Malaysian
trawlers that were allegedly poaching in three separate locations
in the waters off Jemur island (not Jumhur island) in North
Sumatra. The police then started to escort them to the nearest
port of Belawan for questioning.
En route to the port, the Malaysian warship KP Knembela 14 and
an M-502 helicopter approached, prompting the fishermen to put up
a fight using machetes and iron bars, said Brig. Gen. N. Sutisna,
the director of the Water Police squad, on Thursday.
Sutisna said that the Indonesian police had been "forced at
gun point" by Malaysian seamen to release the fishermen. He said
Malaysian officers also "intimidated" and forced the Indonesian
officers to board the Malaysian naval vessel.
He noted that because the Indonesian police were outnumbered,
they did not fight back and released the trawlers after an
argument with Malaysian Navy officers.
Sutisna said that police had contacted their Malaysian
counterparts asking that they arrest the poachers and hand them
over to Indonesia, but to no avail.
The has incident added to a series of territorial disputes
involving the Indonesian and Malaysian navies. Indonesian and
Malaysian warships brushed against each other on April 8 in the
border area near the disputed Ambalat oil and gas block in the
Sulawesi Sea.