RI frees two Malaysian from jail

RI frees two Malaysian from jail

Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia thanked Indonesia on Thursday for releasing two
Malaysian accountants who were jailed for nearly two months for
suspected visa violations.

Choo Yao Chin, 25, and Raimala Sivalingam, 29, employees of
audit company KPMG, were arrested Aug. 17 in Makassar on Sulawesi
island where they had been sent to assess an Indonesian mining
company.

"We are thankful to the Indonesian authorities who have freed
them," Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said on
Thursday after meeting with the two Malaysians, who returned to
Kuala Lumpur the previous night.

Indonesian police said the pair needed business visas and
rejected KPMG's claims that Malaysians do not need such visas
when making short business trips to the neighboring country, the
New Straits Times reported.

Choo was held at a police detention center that also houses
hardcore criminals and Raimala was held at a women's detention
center, the newspaper said.

Malaysia's Ambassador to Indonesia Zainal Abidin Zain
persuaded the police to drop the charges after three days of
negotiations in Makassar, The Star newspaper reported.

Scores of journalists, family members and colleagues greeted
Choo and Raimala when they arrived in Kuala Lumpur late
Wednesday.

Raimala attributed the incident to "being in the wrong place
at the wrong time," according to the New Straits Times, and
maintained that she and Choo did not flout any Indonesian laws.

"It was not exactly a pleasant experience," the daily cited
Choo as saying. "The past two months have really been hard on
everybody, myself, my family and KPMG."

Choo told The Star he was not ill treated or abused during his
detention.

Zainal said Malaysians traveling to Indonesia for business
should apply for a visa to be on the safe side.