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No ransom paid in hostages’ release: Foreign Ministry

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said four Indonesian hostages freed by Somali pirates on Saturday would return to Indonesia soon, after their recovery

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Tue, October 25, 2016

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No ransom paid in hostages’ release: Foreign Ministry

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oreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said four Indonesian hostages freed by Somali pirates on Saturday would return to Indonesia soon, after their recovery.

The former captives “are healthy and in good condition”, she said.

“The four hostages are currently undergoing medical checkups in Nairobi and they will be repatriated soon to Indonesia after recovery.”

The four Indonesian sailors were identified as Supardi, 34, from Cirebon, West Java; Elson Pasireron, 32, from Seram in Ambon, Maluku; and Sudirman, 24, and Adi Manurung, 32, both from Medan, North Sumatra.

The foreign ministry denied that it had paid a ransom for the hostages’ release.

“Indonesia has a clear position that we will never pay a ransom to those who commit piracy,” ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said.

However, AP reported Monday from Nairobi that a pirate representative, Bile Hussein, said US$1.5 million was paid for the sailors’ release.

That claim could not be independently verified, AP reported.

The Indonesians were freed along with 22 others from Cambodia, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, and all of them had arrived in Nairobi on Sunday.

“The four Indonesian sailors, held captive in Somalia since March 26, 2012,were freed on Saturday at 1 p.m. [Indonesian time],” Minister Retno said.

The Indonesian Ambassador in Nairobi, Suhardjono, and the Foreign Ministry team led by the ministry’s director for the protection of Indonesian citizens and legal entities, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, had been in Nairobi since Saturday for the coordination and monitoring of the release process.

The sailors were seized when the Omani-flagged FV Naham 3 vessel was hijacked close to the Seychelles in March 2012, when pirate attacks were common in the area.

“They worked on the Naham 3 vessel, a Taiwan fishing vessel operated by a Omani firm,” Retno said.

Retno said one member of the crew had died during the hijacking while two hostages from Indonesia and Taiwan had died in 2014 due to illnesses.

In 2015, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo asked the Foreign Ministry and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to intensify the release process, saying the hostages’ safety remained a top priority.

Arrmanatha said the release had taken a long time because it involved many parties and countries.

“We had involved many parties, not only from the governments but also NGOs, and the UN to intensify the release process,” he said.

AP quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying as saying Sunday night that 10 of the hostages were from the Chinese mainland and two were from self-governing Taiwan.

She said the 26 crew members were rescued Saturday “through various efforts”.

The Chinese government was grateful to “all the organizations and people who participated in the rescue”, she said.

John Steed, coordinator of Hostage Support Partners for the US-based organization Oceans Beyond Piracy, said no commercial vessel had been successfully attacked since 2012, but the threat of piracy remains, AP reported.

Piracy attacks off Somalia’s coast have dropped off dramatically in recent years amid patrols by the navies of China, India and NATO countries. (sha)

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