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AUSTRALIA
ADMITS LATENESS IN NOTIFIFYING RI ABOUT 49 FISHERMEN'S ARREST
Canberra
- The Australian government has admitted it was late in notifying
Indonesia about the recent apprehension of 49 Indonesian fishermen
for trespassing Australian waters, Indonesian Ambassador to
Australia and Vanuatu Hamzah Thayeb said in Canberra on Wednesday
(23/05).
He said
the 49 Indonesian fishermen aboard six boats were arrested by
Australian authorities in Australia’s Northern Territory waters on
May 16, but the Indonesian government was notified about it much
later.
Hamzah
expressed hope that no such delay would happen again in the future
in order to prevent Australian and Indonesian media from blowing it
up. "If the Australian government had informed us as early as
possible, we could have handled the problem to the best of our
capability," Hamzah said.
He said,
while the Indonesian fishermen were arrested on May 16, the
Indonesian government was informed about it only early this week
after the media had reported it.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman, Kristiarto Legowo
said in Jakarta on Monday (21/05) that the Indonesian Consulate
official in Darwin, Australia, has met with one of 49 Indonesian
fishermen who were arrested in Australian Northern Territory waters
for poaching. “The Indonesian Consulate official has met with one of
the Indonesian fishermen and an embassy official from Canberra will
also meet him on Tuesday (22/05) as part of efforts to assist the
fishermen," Kristiarto Legowo said.
He said
the 49 Indonesian fishermen were at present being held at Darwin
detention center. "The 49 illegal fishermen are from six fishing
boats. They are accused of poaching in Australian territorial waters
and therefore, they are now in a Darwin detention center," he said.
Kristiarto said the fishermen were brought to Darwin last Saturday
(19/05) aboard ACV Triton after they were spotted by an Australian
reconnaissance plane. If the fishermen are found guilty, they would
lose their boats because it was the Australian government's policy
to burn the boats of convicted foreign fishermen (Antara, 24/05/07).
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