Fadli, Batam – The police in Natuna regency, Riau Islands, on Monday released three NGO activists who had allegedly been involved in a free Natuna movement on the grounds that they had yet to be proven to have committed serious separatist efforts.
Natuna Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Wiyarso told The Jakarta Post on Monday the Natuna Military Command handed over three local NGO leaders – Raja Muhammad Tohir, Busi Eka Syahputra and Daeng Murdifin – to police on Aug. 21 for questioning following findings of separatist documents by nine NGOs to break away from the country due to their disappointment over the meager share of oil and gas revenue received by Natuna regency.
"After questioning them, it turned out that the key problem was the government's failure to revise Home Ministerial Decree No. 27/2008 on determining Natuna as an oil and gas producer," Wiyarso said.
The NGOs demanded that Natuna be appointed as an oil and gas producer so it could receive a bigger share of revenues.
"Based on examination, we found out that they had not committed subversive acts."
Riau Islands Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Anggaria Lopis agreed, saying that police had released the three NGO leaders, but they would monitor further developments, and should they find that the movement had led to subversion, they will take stern action.
Riau State University's social and political science lecturer Muchid Albintani said the provincial administration and security forces should have responded to the independence petition conveyed by the NGOs in Natuna regency wisely.
He deemed that this was not a trivial matter in that it could rally support from outside, because Natuna was a oil and gas production center in Riau Islands. Overseas gas and oil companies, such as Conoco Philips, Exxon, Mobil and Premier Oil, have stakes in the area.
"If we observe closely, conflict areas in Indonesia, such as Aceh and Papua, are rich in natural resources, but people there still live in a concerned state," Muchid said.
"This is also taking place in Natuna, which is rich in natural resources. Social jealousy on the progress of another country is a seed of disintegration."
He added the provincial administration and security forces should investigate the issue thoroughly, especially the involvement of foreign strengths in the movement.
Data gathered by the Natuna Military Command indicated that nine NGOs, naming themselves the Natuna Freedom Movement Committee, had expressed their stance to break away from the country due to their disappointment on the meager share of oil and gas revenues received by the regency, thus hampering development.
"This is regarded as subversion and we have handed them over to police for further examination. Based on the documents, the NGOs were disappointed with the division of oil and gas earnings received by the regency. We are probing further into their strength and their wish for independence," military commander Let. Col. I Wayan Aditya said.
According to Aditya, the military had conducted surveillance on a number of NGOs in Natuna in the past few weeks and found out that they would send documents video recordings to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta to express their wish of breaking away from the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.
The regency, located 550 kilometers northeast of Batam, Riau Islands, spans 1,720 square km, and borders with Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia.