Acehnese rebels released to mark independence day
Hundreds of Acehnese rebels will be released from prison today to mark Indonesia’s independence day, officials said, including some who had the chance to escape during the December 26 tsunami, but instead turned themselves in.
Nearly 1,500 Free Aceh Movement rebels will be freed later this month as part of an accord signed between the government and separatist rebels in Finland on Monday to end three decades of fighting.
But another 447 will be released today to mark 60 years of Indonesian independence from Dutch and Japanese colonial rule, said Zulhakil Mubin, the chief correctional officer in the province.
“All but six are in prisons in Aceh,” he said. “The others are in Jakarta.”
Indonesia regularly shortens jail sentences for well-behaved prisoners, but officials said this year the Justice Ministry had been particularly generous toward Acehnese political prisoners. Those convicted of criminal acts will stay in jail.
Among those being released today were 156 inmates who turned themselves in to authorities after the December 26 tsunami slammed into coastlines in Aceh, sweeping away everything in its path – including prisons.
The killer waves claimed at least 131,000 lives in the province and left a half-million others homeless.
“Many of the inmates easily could have escaped, but helped other tsunami victims and then reported their whereabouts to authorities,” Mubin said.
Earlier this week the Indonesian government signed an agreement with separatist rebels to end a civil war that has killed nearly 15,000 people since 1976.
The accord became possible after the Free Aceh Movement agreed to renounce its demand for full independence and to disarm.
In return, the government will withdraw thousands of troops from the province, and offered the rebels the right to political representation and amnesty.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin predicted the 1,482 other rebel inmates eligible for release would be let out next week.
