Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Although their plans have been widely condemned by officials, the People's Democratic Defense (Bendera) announced on Thursday that they are ready to invade Malaysia and would start to dispatch volunteer vigilantes on October 9.

Speaking at a press conference in Jakarta, Bendera coordinator Mustar Nona Ventura said they would not be deterred.

"We will dispatch volunteers as we've scheduled. Nothing will stop us from doing it, including threats from the Malaysian National Security Council or the Indonesian Police."

He said that around 1,300 volunteers would depart for Malaysia between October 9 and 22, including 50 medics. "They will enter through pathways that will be unexpected for Malaysian security," he said.

"Besides the volunteers, there are already 8000 Indonesian migrant workers [in Malaysia] who have committed to support what we do."

In response to an earlier statement by a Malaysian official that more security officers would be deployed to border areas to stop Bendera, Bonar said the volunteers are not afraid and regard it as an empty threat.

"It is not scary to anyone and it shows Malaysia's significant fear of Bendera," he said.

He also criticized a previous statement from a police spokesman that threatened to arrest any Bendera activists who attack Malaysia. Bona said the police should actually support and protect them from Malaysians who try to stop them from invading.

"If the police consider our actions a threat, then it will weaken our spirit to struggle and defend our country's sovereignty. So we apologize if it [the police's statement] will not change our intentions," Bona said.

"I think would be better for the Police and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to honestly disclose the true number of Indonesians who have died from torture or murder in Malaysia," he said.

Responding to the statement, Indonesian Military spokesman Air Vice Marshall Sagom Tamboen said they would not deploy special forces to stop the Bendera activists from entering Malaysia.

He said that the current immigration officers and soldiers on duty on the country's borders were enough to prevent any attack. "Surely our officers at the borders already know what to do. The officers will take the best steps, which in this case, will be by asking them to go home," Tamboen said.