M. Arbi, Tapaktuan – After the people of Abdya voiced their demands for an extension to martial law in Aceh, on Tuesday April 13 the same demands were echoed by the people of South Aceh. Thousands of people spilled into the grounds of the regional parliament building in the town of Tapaktuan to listen to speeches by public figures demanding that martial law in Aceh be extended.

Using all kinds of transportation, the wave of people from 16 sub-districts – from Labuhan Haji Barat to Trumon Timur – had been streaming into Tapaktuan since early morning. The grounds of the local parliament were unable to accommodate the number of people who overflowed into the surrounding streets of Jalan Syeikh Abdul Rauf and the former offices of the governor.

Speeches demanding an extension of martial law began at around 10am and were made by a number of public figures such as Hasan Ilyas, Husaini, Cut Asanah, Buyong Medan and Bintara Yakop. Also present to hear the speeches was the deputy governor of South Aceh, Drs H.T. Meurah Hasan, who was representing the governor and the head of the South Aceh regional parliament, H. Amrin Is.

Amrin said that he was accommodating the aspirations of the people who are calling on the government to extend the military emergency. This demand will be taken before a meeting of the consultative council then submitted to the central government.

Half way trough the speeches meanwhile, Fpdra.com was told that people were forced to come to the action and if they refused they would be considered to be followers of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and would be killed by security forces the following night. There was also a young person who was around 15 years old who said that they came because they were invited to see an artist who would be coming from Jakarta.

Separately, the chairperson of the central committee of the Acehnese People’s Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA) said that these kinds of actions are often held in Aceh such as the demonstrations against the [now defunct] Joint Security Council [which was overseeing a peace agreement between GAM and the government] which were coordinated by the TNI (armed forces).

And now, with the second six moth period of martial law coming to an end and in the lead up to a change of national government [following the April 5 election], the military has a significant interest in mobilising the people to legitimise another extenuation of martial law. This is because in economic and political terms, as an institution the TNI benefits greatly from martial law in Aceh.

[Translated by James Balowski.]