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Cilacap fishermen return to sea after executions
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A fisherman sails in the waters off Nusakambangan on Friday. (JP/Agus Maryono)
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undreds of fishermen in Cilacap, Central Java, returned to sea on Saturday after the lifting of a restriction on boats in the area amid a round of executions that took place early on Friday.
Fishermen were able to fish again after two days being barred from working in the area as the area around the high-security Nusakambangan prison island was cleared by security authorities.
"Hopefully, there will be no more executions on Nusakambangan. It causes us fishermen a lot of trouble," fisherman Rasno told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Two days prior to the execution, all fishermen were banned from entering Nusakambangan waters, he said noting that of the 30,000 fishermen in Cilacap, 1,000 earned their livelihoods fishing in the Nusakambangan area.
"Small-scale fishermen fish in Nusakambangan waters. With our small boats, it is impossible to fish far out to sea. So the executions affected our livelihood," Rasno said, adding that small-scale fishermen were equipped only with nets and hooks.
The Navy and National Police cleared the waters of Nusakambangan two days before the execution, with security personnel guarding the Wijaya Pura Dock and conducting sea patrols to ensure no one traveled to the prison island.
The government executed four drug convicts at 00:46 a.m. on Friday. The inmates were Indonesian Freddy Budiman, Seck Osmani from Senegal and Nigerians Humphrey Eijeke and Michael Titus, amid global and local outcry to halt the executions. (rin)
