Monitoring team for Aceh set up
Monitoring team for Aceh set up
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta
The central government has established a monitoring and
assistance team to support Aceh's state of civil emergency
administrator Governor Abdullah Puteh in making decisions.
Underlining that Puteh does not have the authority to solely
issue regulations, ad interim coordinating minister for political
and security affairs Hari Sabarno said on Monday that the team
would report to his office.
"The assistance component is to ensure the effectiveness of
the comprehensive operation (of the administration), while the
monitoring component is to supervise the budget used during the
emergency status," Hari said after a cabinet meeting led by
President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
"The governor does not have the authority to issue any
regulation without consulting the team," the minister said.
Puteh is under scrutiny for his alleged involvement in a
multi-million rupiah graft case during the year of martial law in
the province.
The government changed the status from martial law to a state
of civil emergency on May 19, and Puteh as governor was appointed
as the administrator.
The assistant team consists of representatives from the
Indonesia Military (TNI), the Office of the Coordinating Minister
of the Economy, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Police
and the Office of the Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare.
While the monitoring team comprises State Audit Agency (BPK)
officials and the current independent monitoring team led by
Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) chief Mar'ie Muhammad.
"The officials will be appointed from Jakarta and are slated
to arrive in Aceh next week," Hari added.
The presidential instruction on the establishment of the team
would be issued after a full cabinet meeting on Thursday, he
said.
Separately, the lawyer of an Acehnese female activist and five
former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) peace negotiators, Johnson
Panjaitan requested the government review its plan of
transferring his clients to a penitentiary on Java island.
"Moving them to Java would isolate them from their families
and communities and eliminate the chance of their lawyers to
provide legal assistance," Johnson said.
He added his clients were waiting for the Supreme Court's
decision on their appeal, so there was no need to transfer them.
Johnson represents peace negotiators Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba,
Nashiruddin bin Ahmed, Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki, Muhammad Usman and
Teuku Kamaruzzaman, who were sentenced to between 12 years and 15
years of prison earlier this year by the Banda Aceh District
Court. The verdict was upheld by the Aceh High Court.
While the woman activist, Cut Nur Asikin, had been sentenced
to 11 years for her involvement in a rally demanding a referendum
in the province in 2000.
Johnson said he had sent an official letter to the Ministry of
Justice and Human Rights regarding the request, but was yet to
receive an answer.
The government has been transferring prisoners from Aceh to
Java since January due to the limited capacity of penitentiaries
in the westernmost province.
Asikin told the Post that an official from the justice and
human rights provincial office had informed her of possible
transfers to Tangerang Penitentiary.
"I don't know when I will be sent to Java, but I guess it will
be in the very near future. They told me to learn about the
ideology of the Javanese people," she said.