Jailed GAM negotiator can't wait for release

Jailed GAM negotiator can't wait for release

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung

The days leading to Aug. 21, the day the Indonesian government
has promised to begin to set Aceh separatists free, seem to be
moving slowly for Amni Ahmad Marzuki, a former negotiator of the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM), who has been incarcerated at Sukamiskin
Prison, Bandung for the past two years.

"I wish I could see my parents, brothers and sisters
immediately. I don't know what they look like right now," Amni
told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Amni, along with four other GAM spokesmen were sent to prison
on May 19 two years ago, only five hours after president Megawati
Soekarnoputri declared martial law in Aceh. Martial law was
announced after the Indonesian government no longer recognized
the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) between the
Indonesian government and GAM.

The five negotiators were picked up by police personnel in
Kuala Tripa Hotel, Banda Aceh, where they were staying while
negotiating with the Indonesian government.

"Police said that we were dispatched to a safe place, but in
fact, were brought to court and sentenced to between 12 years and
13 years in prison in October of the same year on treason
charges.

The sentence was unfair as we were merely the negotiators who
were seeking a peace deal with the Indonesian government," said
Amni. After spending a year in an Aceh prison, Amni and two other
negotiators Tengku Muhammad Usman Lampoh Awe and Teuku
Kamaruzzaman were moved along with 71 other GAM prisoners to five
prisons in West Java, including Sukamiskin Prison in Bandung.

Supporting GAM was not Amni's dream. Amni, who was born in
Lhokseumawe, North Aceh regency on Sept. 20, 1965, did not even
like politics when he was young. When he was teenager, he dreamed
of becoming a successful businessman.

To fulfill his dream, he studied at a banking college in
Medan. But, when he completed his studies in 1989 and went back
to his home in Lhokseumawe, the situation was already different.
"The Indonesian Military declared Aceh a military operations
area, so the situation was very tense. Worse, my name was
included on the list of GAM members," he said.

He was scared knowing that many neighbors who were listed as
GAM members had been arrested and some were found dead. He was
told by his family that he had to run.

For three long years he was on the run, moving between various
places such as mountainous areas and remote kampongs in order to
avoid arrest. "I had only one goal: to stay alive," said Amni.

Realizing he needed a more decent life, he went to Malaysia
for work. Three years later, or in 1998, he returned as Indonesia
was caught in political transition. The fall of the repressive
Soeharto regime gave a boost to Acehnese people's spirit to
demand justice. Amni became the part of people's movement that
demanded justice and in 2000 he was appointed a GAM spokesman.

As a GAM negotiator and spokesman, he attended various GAM
meetings and even went to Geneva twice. He met his family for the
last time in 2002 before he was sent to prison where his life was
harsh. He recalled being treated badly when he was in police cell
pending court trial. He was abused verbally and sewage water was
poured over him. "I had psychological problems. But, life
improved in Sukamiskin Prison. We had a big room and could play
badminton and read books," he said.

As amnesty is only a few days away, he hopes to return home
and live a normal life, an expectation shared by many GAM inmates
longing for freedom right now. "I want to see my family. I also
want to get married and have children, so that I could teach them
about justice," he said.