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.