RI demands answers on phone taps
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants an explanation over reports of telephone tapping imposed on Indonesians living in Australia by federal security and intelligence officers.
"We are still gathering information over the reported phone taps which are targeting Indonesian nationals there," the ministry spokesman, Marty Natalegawa, told reporters on Friday.
Marty said the Indonesian Embassy in Australia had not yet received notification from the Australian government regarding the report.
He said after the raids that targeted 14 Indonesian Muslims with suspected ties to the now outlawed Jamaah Islamiyah terror network, in Australia, that some members of the Indonesian community residing in Australia were living in fear.
Indonesia, according to Marty, asked the Australian government to assure a peaceful life for the Indonesian nationals. He went on to tell them that this could be achieved through, among other things, providing clear legal grounds for the raids and the interrogation of the 14 Indonesians, he said.
Jakarta has also demanded that Canberra restore the good names of the Indonesians targeted by the raids.
The Australian Embassy has held a meeting with the Australian International Student Office to discuss possible assistance for Indonesian students in Australia, some of whom could experience difficult and fearful times after the raids.
The assistance, in the form of counseling assistance, will be given to the Indonesian Muslims who are fasting during Ramadhan. Such assistance has been popular at some Australian universities following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York and Washington last year.
Meanwhile, a group of Italian intellectuals appealed to the world community on Friday not to associate the Oct. 12 Bali bombing with Indonesian Muslims.
They feared that such a generalization would provoke further conflicts and claim more innocent lives.
The group said the statement was released in response to ill treatment and threats suffered by Indonesian Muslims overseas, including those in Australia.
In a statement available to the media, the intellectuals called on the world community to maintain their composure and preserve harmony.
They said the generalization could not be proven, because Indonesian Muslims had a historical tradition of peace, moderation and tolerance.
"In fact, Indonesian Muslims are traditionally synonymous with tolerance and openness to the world," said the group which comprises journalists, scholars and Italian members of civil societies both in Italy and Jakarta.
The statement was signed by Guido Corradi, Elena Dell'Agnese and Francesco Montessoro, lecturers in Milan, Emanuele Giordana and Marina Forti, both are journalists in Rome, Giulio Soravia, a lecturer in Bologna and Antonia Soriente, a researcher in Jakarta.