SIRA seeks help from HDC and JSC to free leader
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.