E Mei Amelia R, Jakarta – Indonesian police arrested three Malaysian citizens in relation to the 18th ASEAN Summit in Jakarta on May 7-8. The three were questioned for allegedly taking part in a demonstration at the ASEAN Secretariat on Jl. Sisingamangaraja in South Jakarta on May 5.

“Intelligence offices were suspicious of them because they took photographs during the demonstration. The offices suspected, that they were taking part in the demonstration”, said Metro Jaya Regional Police public relations chief Senior Commissioner Baharudin Djafar when contacted by a Detik.com journalist on Thursday.

The protest action in front of the ASEAN Secretariat was demanding a resolution to the problems facing South-East Asian countries. Officers then queried the identity of the three who were absorbed taking pictures of the demonstration. “After being queried about their identity, it turned out they were Malaysian citizens”, said Djafar.

Upon discovering the three were foreign nationals, the officer then escorted them to the Metro Jaya Regional Police headquarters. After questioning however, it turned out that the three were not involved in the protest action.

“We cross-checked with the field coordinator for the protest action and the field coordinator stated that they were not part of the protest action participants”, explained Djafar.

After being question, the three, one woman and two men (sic) were sent home. They arrived in Indonesia on visitors visas. “They have been sent home”, he said.

The arrest of the three Malaysian citizens meanwhile attracted protests. Social organisations grouped under the Indonesian People Action on ASEAN (IPAA) condemned the arrest of the three and the ban on demonstrating that was issued by the Metro Jaya Regional Police chief. This was despite the fact that the protest action was to demand solidarity and democracy for ASEAN.

“Demonstrating is a constitutional right and is one of the legitimate forms of political expression. As a democratic country, there should not be a ban on activities such as demonstrating”, said IPAA spokesperson Oki Firman Febrian in a press statement.

Febrian emphasised that the police’s job is not in fact to ban activities such as demonstrations, which are part of the political domain in the implementation of the civil and political rights of citizens. The police’s job is to guarantee law and order.

“The ban in fact contradicts the vision of a people’s orientated ASIAN that was touted in the formation of the ASEAN Community 2020. The national police are overacting too much in banning demonstrations, this ban will in fact do irreparable damage to the people’s orientated ASEAN that has been promoted up until now”, said Febrian (mei/ndr)

Notes:

According to The Star newspaper, the three Malaysian nationals (two women and one man) were Sisters-in-Islam member Nazreen Nizam, Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM) member Choo Chon Kai and Enalini Devi Elumalai from the Malaysian of human rights group Suaram (Voice of the Malaysian People). Despite Djafar’s remarks that the three have been “sent home”, they were not in fact deported.

Source: Polisi Sempat Amankan 3 WN Malaysia Terkait Unjuk Rasa di KTT ASEAN – detikNews. Kamis, 05/05/2011

 [Translated by James Balowski.]