4 DETAINED FISHERMEN RETURN HOME
Men, said to have encroached into Indonesian waters, held for 12 days
FOUR Malaysian fishermen who were wrongfully detained by Indonesian authorities for 12 days arrived home at the Pontian fishing jetty yesterday.
The four had been held at the Tanjung Balai detention centre near Sumatra since Dec 17 after they were picked up by the Indonesian Maritime Agency, which had mistakenly assumed that the crew had encroached into Indonesian waters and were fishing illegally.
Aged between 38 and 53, the four were nabbed and their fishing vessel seized when they were spotted by a patrol boat off Pulau Pisang.
Johor Baru Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Maritime Captain Syed Nor Adli Syed Ab Rahman said upon learning about the incident, the MMEA intervened and clarified that the four fishermen had actually been within Malaysian maritime boundaries.
“It could have been an oversight (on the part of the Indonesians) as the four men were fishing in an area (where the) Malaysia-Indonesia fishing boundary overlaps,” Adli said.
He added that during their 12 days of detention, the fishermen were treated well. The skipper was allowed to notify people in Malaysia about their arrest, and those back home informed MMEA.
According to Adli, MMEA and the Indonesian National Naval Force had met to discuss the fishermen’s release, which was secured on Dec 28.
He said MMEA would continue to assist the Malaysian maritime community in times of distress and work closely with international counterparts to resolve disputes amicably.