SIRA seeks help from HDC and JSC to free leader
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) has asked the Joint Security Committee (JSC) to help secure the release of its pro- independence leader, Muhammad Nazar, being held on charges of organizing an illegal rally.
"We have asked the JSC and HDC (Henry Dunant Centre) to help us in getting Nazar immediately released because his arrest is against the spirit of the peace agreement," SIRA secretary- general Ruslan Razali was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday.
Nazar was arrested by seven Banda Aceh police officers at his home at Lampulo Baru village in Kuta Alam subdistrict last Wednesday at around 1:30 a.m.
The predawn arrest, the second one in two years, came after a two-week hunt for the SIRA chief.
Police said Nazar was arrested in connection with his speeches campaigning for a referendum in the troubled province of Aceh, which they added could discourage the government's efforts to promote the fragile peace deal signed on Dec. 9.
The suspect has been accused of mobilizing people in the North Aceh town of Lhokseumawe on Jan. 8 for the pro-independence campaign, for which he is charged with violating Article 510 of the Criminal Code and Article 10 of Law No. 9/1998 on public speeches without permit.
But Ruslan said Nazar's arrest was "an act of violence, intimidation and provocation" designed to persecute the Acehnese people who want to live in a democratic atmosphere.
The detention is a serious violation of the peace agreement between the government and the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to cease almost three decades of hostilities, he added.
Ruslan said the police resorted to intimidation and damaged a civilian's property in arresting his colleague, who had been sentenced to nine months in prison two years ago for spreading hatred against the government.
The SIRA secretary-general urged the JSC overseeing the truce to reprimand the government for violating the agreement. The committee comprises representatives from HDC, GAM and the government.
Ruslan dismissed the police's criminal charges against Nazar, saying the arrest was politically motivated.
The police's statement that Nazar had illegally mobilized people in February should be rejected because the rally in question was called by an organizing committee, he added.
"About the charge that Nazar insulted the Indonesian government ... I think there have been other parties who have fired more serious insults at the government but they remain free," he said.
The police are searching for another Acehnese pro-independence activist, Kautsar, allegedly involved in the same rally.
The North Aceh police said they had summoned both Nazar and Kautsar for questioning over the rally, but the suspects failed to show up.
The government asserts that the rebels have committed serious violations of the fragile truce that has yet to bring a complete end to the bloodshed since Dec. 9.
The government also accused GAM and other groups of trying to twist the facts drawn up in the peace pact by telling locals that a referendum would take place in the future in the troubled province.
SIRA is an organization founded by various civilian groups in Aceh. It helped sponsor an Acehnese student and youth congress in 1999 against the government. Its main agenda is campaigning for a referendum in Aceh.
The government has dismissed the idea of a referendum in Aceh and instead granted the province special autonomy in 2000.