Indonesia releases two foreign seafarers
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
Indonesian authorities released on Sunday an Australian couple after four days in detention for having illegally entered the war-torn province of Aceh.
Head of the Banda Aceh immigration office for the supervision of foreigners, Imron Zubandi, said John Humphrey, 57, and Claire Susan, 58, were released after questioning revealed that they did not intentionally enter Indonesian territory.
"The two had been stranded in Pulau Aceh after their boat was hit by a storm. Because there was no violation, the immigration office which has questioned them and the security authorities have agreed to release them," Zubandi told reporters.
The Australian couple was allowed to board their small ship and depart Ulee Lheue harbor in the Pulau Nasi islands, north of the northernmost tip of Aceh, for international waters.
The boat was escorted by a Navy patrol boat and a speedboat of the marine and air police.
Spokesman for the Aceh martial law administrator, Col. Ditya Soedarsono told reporters after seeing off the couple that the military would escort them to into international waters.
He earlier said that the couple had not violated any laws.
The two were arrested at Pulau Nasi island on Thursday after they landed without any permits for Indonesia.
The couple, who have been at sea for several years, made no comments to journalists but to announce Madagascar as their next destination.
They had departed from Langkawi harbor in Malaysia on Sept. 22 bound for the east African island nation but were caught by a storm and sought refuge at Pulau Nasi.
Security forces found the couple while on patrol on Nasi island on Thursday. The security personnel initially suspected the Australians of violating the Aceh martial law administration ruling which bars all foreigners from entering the province without first obtaining special permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
Although their entry into Indonesian waters was not intended, the presence of the small ship alarmed a group of military and police personnel who were patrolling the area in search of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.
The immigration official said the Australian couple seemed to be unaware of the massive military operation underway in Aceh to destroy the separatist movement in the resource-rich province.
The province has been under a state of military emergency since May 19.
Earlier in June, soldiers shot and killed German national Luther Hendrick Albert, 54, and wounded his companion Elizabeth Margareth, 49, after a villager said he was suspicious of the two international trekkers in Lhok Gayo village, Teunom district, Aceh Jaya regency.
The German's death was the first foreign casualty since the declaration of martial law and intensified military activity, when the government warned foreign organizations and individuals against traveling to the province for security concerns.
Military authorities have also been upset by the entry of American freelance journalist William Nessen into the northernmost province, an act it deemed a violation of martial law imposed there. He apparently entered before May 19 and was covering the war from GAM side which thoroughly irked the government.
Nessen later left the GAM camp and was put on trial for a visa violation. He was declared guilty but given a lenient sentence and deported upon the end of his jail term.