Gov't: No Ransom Paid in the Rescue of Four Indonesian Hostages
12 May 2016 13:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The spokesperson for the Indonesian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Arrmanatha Nasir said that the release of four Indonesian national that were taken as hostages in the Philippines by an armed militant group did not involve any ransom payment.
"What I can say - as what our Minister of Foreign Affairs have said prior - that our government are steadfast on our stance of not giving in to ransom requests," said Nasir. "Not in the first case where 10 Indonesian nationals were rescued, and definitely not in the second case," said Nasir in Jakarta on Thursday, May 12, 2016.
Nasir released the statement as a response to reports that a certain amount of ransom was paid, which persuaded the militant group to release the four Indonesian crewmen - who were manning the tugboat 'Henry', owned by PT Global Trans-Energy.
The names of the hostages that were rescued are Moch Aryani from Bekasi Timur, West Java, Loren Marinus Petrus Rumawi from Sorong, West Papua, Dede Irfan Hilmi from Ciamis, West Java, and Samsir, a resident of Palopo in South Sulawesi.
According to Nasir, the rescued hostages are currently being prepared for repatriation to Indonesia on Thursday, May 12, 2016. "The Philippines government will formally hand them over to Indonesian representatives station on our warship stationed near the Indonesian-Filipino border, after which hopefully they could arrive in Jakarta either this afternoon or tomorrow morning," Nasir said.
The four crewmen were taken hostages off the waters of Zamboanga on April 15, 2016, and were held as captives in Sulu, the Philippines. Six other Indonesian nationals were also aboard the tugboat, but they were rescued by a Malaysia patrol boat and were taken to Tawau, Sabah in Malaysia, to receive medical treatment as a crewman suffered from a gunshot wound.
According to the Director for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Legal Entities, five out of the six crewmen rescued have been repatriated in April, while the injured individual has been released from the Malaysian hospital were he was treated on Wednesday, May 11, 2016.
ANTARA
