Group asks RP to help release of Filipino activist arrested in Indonesia

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya - Members of a local environmental group on Tuesday called on Philippine authorities to effect the early release of a Filipino environmental activist who was arrested in Indonesia. Judy Pasimio of the Legal Rights and Resource Center (LRC), a legal and policy research non-government organization (NGO), reported that Jean Marie Ferraris along with 13 other international NGO workers was arrested by Indonesian police while attending a press conference in West Java concerning the harmful impacts of coal plants on the environment. “We denounce in the strongest possible terms the unwarranted arrest of Ms. Jean Marie Ferraris by misguided elements of the Indonesian police, who apparently barged into a peaceful press conference being held after a training activity organized by our friends from Greenpeace," said Pasimio. Pasimio said Ferraris entered Indonesia legally and was attending a legitimate activity when about 100 police officers reportedly accompanied by representatives of the coal power plant operated by Cirebon Elektrik Power Ltd., barged in at the conference venue. In a statement sent to GMANews.TV, LRC alleged that Indonesia still hasn’t completely shrugged off its authoritarian past that evokes the time of Suharto when the coercive power of the state, through the police and the military were used to sow terror and choke democratic space.

Jean Marie Ferraris during one of the protest actions against mining operations. GMANews.TV

“We call on our government to act swiftly to for the release of Ms. Ferraris and demand an immediate explanation from the Indonesian government. The new administration of Pres. Aquino must send a strong message to the international community that it is committed to protecting our citizens from abuses committed on foreign soil, even if it is by a foreign government," LRC concluded. - RJAB Jr/KBK, GMANews.TV