ID :
13407
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 20:24
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http://m.oananews.org//node/13407
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ABOUT 1,300 INDONESIANS BEING HELD IN MALAYSIA'S KAJANG PRISON
Penang, July 22 (ANTARA) - Some 1,300 of the 1,700 inmates of Malaysia's Kajang state penitentiary in Selangor are Indonesian nationals, Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Da'i Bachtiar said.
"We discovered this fact after one of the Indonesian prisoners asked for legal aid. After sending a team to Selangor, we learned that more than a thousand Indonesians are being held in the prison," said Bachtiar at a meeting with members of the Indonesian community in Penang on Monday evening.
"The number (1,300) is just those jailed in Kajang penitentiary. We dont't know how many more Indonesians there are in other Malaysian prisons. The Malaysian government is reluctant to provide information if we don't ask for it. Therefore, we are trying to make an inventory of Indonesians being jailed in Malaysian prisons," he said.
The big number of Indonesians in Malaysian prisons, according to the envoy, was due to the fact that they had no money to go free on bail unlike many Malaysians. As a result, Malaysian prisons were mostly full of foreigners.
Bachtiar said the great number of Indonesians being held in prison was possibly the reason why Malaysia was reluctant to sign a mandatory consular notification (MCN) agreement with Indonesia. Under such an agreement, the Malaysian authorities would be very busy handling administrative matters affecting the Indonesian prisoners, and so would the Indonesian embassy, Bachtiar said.
Therefore, Bachtiar called on Indonesian workers, university students and Indonesian expatriates to adhere strictly to the regulations and laws in Malaysia so as to uphold the good image of Indonesia.
He said at present there were about two million Indonesians in Malaysia or more than the population of some of Indonesia's provinces such as Bangka Belitung.
But any Indonesian province with a population of less than two million had an administration manned by many employees down to the lowest levels, whereas the Indonesian embassy and consulates general in Malaysia had compraratively very small staffs.
"The Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur receives at least 900 people every day seeking immigration and consular services. In Penang, the Indonesian consulate general serves about 100 people and that in Johor about 400 people per day," Bachtiar said.
"We discovered this fact after one of the Indonesian prisoners asked for legal aid. After sending a team to Selangor, we learned that more than a thousand Indonesians are being held in the prison," said Bachtiar at a meeting with members of the Indonesian community in Penang on Monday evening.
"The number (1,300) is just those jailed in Kajang penitentiary. We dont't know how many more Indonesians there are in other Malaysian prisons. The Malaysian government is reluctant to provide information if we don't ask for it. Therefore, we are trying to make an inventory of Indonesians being jailed in Malaysian prisons," he said.
The big number of Indonesians in Malaysian prisons, according to the envoy, was due to the fact that they had no money to go free on bail unlike many Malaysians. As a result, Malaysian prisons were mostly full of foreigners.
Bachtiar said the great number of Indonesians being held in prison was possibly the reason why Malaysia was reluctant to sign a mandatory consular notification (MCN) agreement with Indonesia. Under such an agreement, the Malaysian authorities would be very busy handling administrative matters affecting the Indonesian prisoners, and so would the Indonesian embassy, Bachtiar said.
Therefore, Bachtiar called on Indonesian workers, university students and Indonesian expatriates to adhere strictly to the regulations and laws in Malaysia so as to uphold the good image of Indonesia.
He said at present there were about two million Indonesians in Malaysia or more than the population of some of Indonesia's provinces such as Bangka Belitung.
But any Indonesian province with a population of less than two million had an administration manned by many employees down to the lowest levels, whereas the Indonesian embassy and consulates general in Malaysia had compraratively very small staffs.
"The Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur receives at least 900 people every day seeking immigration and consular services. In Penang, the Indonesian consulate general serves about 100 people and that in Johor about 400 people per day," Bachtiar said.
