Ina Parlina, Jakarta – As the body of a victim of the most recent Aceh shooting was flown home on Saturday to Semarang, Central Java, former members of the Free Aceh Movement denied speculation that they were behind the violence.
The body of 30-year-old Gunoko, one of three construction workers shot in Simpang Aneuk Galong, Aceh Besar, arrived in Gunoko's hometown of Semarang on Saturday.
Gunoko's death on Thursday last week brought the total death toll from recent shootings in Aceh since late last year to 17. Two other victims – 35-year-old Agus Swetnyo and 25-year-old Sotiku Anas – were still on life-support machines at Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Banda Aceh.
Some have speculated the assailants are linked to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as some of them used AK-series assault rifles, the weapons of choice of the separatist movement members when they fought a decades-long insurgency against the government that ended with a treaty in 2005.
Some have speculated the violence might be linked to those backing the re-election of Governor Irwandi Yusuf, a former member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Suadi Sulaiman, a former member of GAM who is currently on the Pidie local council, denied the speculation, saying that GAM had played no role in the recent shootings.
"I can guarantee that none of us were involved in the shootings because we handed over all of our weapons when we agreed to sign the peace treaty in Helsinki on Aug. 15, 2005. We also vowed to maintain peace in Aceh," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Suadi said the assailants had targeted former members of GAM, most of whom were members of the ruling Aceh Party.
"The assailants, or anyone behind them, were trying to prove that the Aceh Party has failed to maintain peace, and that its members should not be re-elected in the upcoming regional election," he said.
Suadi said it was obvious that the shootings were politically motivated. "There's only one reason for it; the Aceh gubernatorial election."
He called on the central government to delay the Feb. 16 election until a new local ordinance was drafted to give legal grounds for the poll. Aceh's gubernatorial election was initially scheduled for last November but has been postponed twice.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said that in spite of the recent shootings, it would not deploy more troops to Aceh. Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Hartind Asrin said the shootings did not constitute a threat to national security and were considered ordinary crimes.
Al Araf, the program director of human rights watchdog Imparsial, said that causing unrest in the run-up and during the scheduled gubernatorial election was the first move of a plan to break apart Aceh.
"They are free riders who obviously don't like peace in Aceh. These people, who are yet to be identified, are trying to create destruction in the province for reasons that we don't know yet," he said. (msa)