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.