Six Maluku men seek PBHI help for political asylum

Six Maluku men seek PBHI help for political asylum

JAKARTA (JP): Six Maluku men who climbed over the gate of the
Swiss Embassy in South Jakarta last Wednesday have sought help
from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI)
to urge the embassy to grant them political asylum.

PBHI vice chairman for legal aid and advocacy Johnson
Panjaitan said the men had requested PBHI's help since the
embassy had not yet granted their request for asylum.

"We will try to bridge a talk between the six men and the
embassy so that the best decision can be made soon," Johnson told
a media conference.

"We will also seek clarification if the Swiss Embassy plans to
grant political asylum to all six men or if they intend to refer
some of them to other embassies.

"We heard that some embassies have been contacted on this
matter," he said.

He, however, failed to name the other embassies.

The six men from the Mahamuda Siwalima, the Association of
Maluku people in Jakarta, climbed over the gate of the Swiss
Embassy on Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said in order to attract international
attention on the continuing riots in Maluku.

They demanded the embassy persuade the United Nations (UN)
Security Council to send troops to the riot-torn province since
they no longer believed in the Indonesian government's efforts to
end the continuing clashes in the province.

They also said that the continuing riots were not clashes
between Muslims and Christians but deliberately engineered by
some political elites for certain causes.

An activist from Mahamuda Siwalima Roy Sairlela, who attended
the media conference, said the association had also asked PBHI's
help in guaranteeing their friends' safety since the six men had
received phone threats.

"Our friends have received threatening telephone calls and
people wielding swords are even rallying in front of the
embassy," Roy said.

Roy said that those rallying threatened to hurt their friends
when they came out of the embassy.

However, Roy said that the six men would not come out of the
embassy until the UN sent their troops to end the clashes.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab said last Thursday
that he would meet with the Swiss ambassador on the matter as
soon as he returned to Jakarta after accompanying President
Abdurrahman Wahid in his overseas trip. (jaw)