Pardoned GAM prisoners breathe air of freedom
Pardoned GAM prisoners breathe air of freedom
The Jakarta Post, Aceh/Bandung/Semarang
Hundreds of Acehnese rebels were released from prisons on
Wednesday following the signing of a decree granting amnesty and
unconditional release to members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday.
The amnesty -- a key condition of the landmark peace deal
signed in Helsinki on Aug. 15 -- takes effect immediately, and
has been granted to people who were involved with GAM, including
Indonesian nationals and former Indonesian nationals who have
taken up foreign citizenship.
"I'm very happy. Now myself and my friends can go back home to
Aceh. I can join my wife and children again. I thank God," said
Tengku Hasan Umar Tiro, one of the released GAM prisoners at
Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang.
He was among 219 GAM prisoners held in jails in Central Java
who benefited from the amnesty, and was on his way back home on a
Garuda flight, sitting alongside ordinary passengers.
Up to 1,424 GAM prisoners and detainees are believed to have
been released on Wednesday.
In Bandung, 74 GAM members walked free from Sukamiskin
penitentiary at dawn, each provided with Rp 2 million (US$190) in
cash, and a bag containing a batik T-shirt, bathing and shaving
requisites, and underwear.
From Bandung, they traveled to Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport in Jakarta on board two buses to catch a flight to Aceh.
Free as they are, the GAM members were still worried about the
security situation in Aceh following reports of continuing armed
clashes between the Indonesian Military and the insurgents.
Former GAM negotiator Teungku Kamaruzaman expressed hope that
both the government and GAM were really committed to implementing
the peace deal. This was essential to ensure the well-being of
the Acehnese people.
"We still don't know what will happen to us there in Aceh as
the security situation is not completely safe," he told
journalists before leaving Bandung.
In Banda Aceh, relatives of released GAM prisoners impatiently
waited for their arrival at Iskandar Muda Airport.
Aminah, a 67-year-old Lhokseumawe native, who came to the
airport at 10 a.m., was unable to conceal her excitement as she
waited the arrival of her eldest son from prison in East Java.
She had brought a sampling of her son's favorite Acehnese
delicacy with her.
"I arrived in Banda Aceh yesterday because I thought my son
would arrive on Tuesday," she told The Jakarta Post.
Flanked by relatives, she was specially dressed up for the
reunion, with a long, simple kebaya (traditional dress) and a new
sarong. Her face was radiant with happiness.
Then the first out of three scheduled flights carrying the GAM
members arrived and were welcomed by local officials, including
Aceh Police chief Insp. Gen. Bahrumsyah Kasman.
"Where's my son. Is he there?" cried Aminah as tears of joy
ran down her cheek. She eagerly craned her neck, trying to catch
sight of her son in the distance as the waiting relatives were
not allowed to enter the airport.
The released GAM members were then taken to Harapan Bangsa
Lampeunerut Station where they met their relatives.
Aminah and her son were finally reunited, and hugged each
other with joy.