JP/2/IFJ

JP/2/IFJ

World press association calls for Fery's release

The Jakarta Post Jakarta

The International Federation of Journalists has reiterated its demand for the release of RCTI television cameraman, Fery Santoro, who has spent almost 10 months as a hostage of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

President of the Brussels-based IFJ, Christopher Warren, said on Monday in a statement that "Neither the GAM fighters in (Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam) nor the Indonesian Military have given Fery's safety the priority it deserves." In an accompanying article Warren wrote that Fery "cannot become the forgotten hostage".

Fery was abducted while on assignment in the Langsa area by GAM along with colleague Sory Ersa Siregar on June 29 last year, their driver and two wives of Air Force officers. The driver escaped late last year, while the Indonesian Military (TNI) said Ersa was killed on Dec. 29 by TNI bullets in a gunfight with GAM. The women were released in February.

The TNI and GAM with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Indonesian Red Cross have so far failed to facilitate the release of Fery and dozens of other hostages.

Warren noted that "Journalists are taken hostage to punish and intimidate the press. It is an act of cowardice and futility."

"Taking journalists hostage limits the ability of all of us to know and understand what is happening in areas of conflict," he said.

Given the public's limited access to Aceh the government has been accused of waging a "secret war" under the guise of its "integrated operations" under the status of martial law. The government has vehemently denied the accusation, citing that nothing is secret in Aceh as journalists were invited to cover all aspects of the operation including military activities.

Martial law is scheduled to end on May 19.