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Authorities unaware if some arrested pilgrims from Central Java
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An officer helps a haj pilgrim (right) from Sumenep, Madura, to board an aircraft at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, on Aug. 9. (thejakartapost.com/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
P
olice cannot yet confirm reports that 19 of the 177 Indonesian haj pilgrims recently arrested by Philippine authorities for allegedly using illegally obtained passports are from Central Java.
Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Condro Kirono said his agency had started an investigation into possible arrest of the 19 local haj pilgrims by immigration authorities at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Friday.
For that purpose, he said, the police had coordinated with the Religious Affairs Ministry and the immigration office at the Law and Human Rights Ministry.
“We are investigating the origin of the haj pilgrims and on why and how they could depart [for Mecca] from the Philippines. These matters are still being investigated,” said Condro in Semarang on Wednesday.
Separately, Central Java Religious Affairs Agency head Saefuddin Zuhri said the 19 haj pilgrims were not registered on the list of pilgrims departing from Adisumarmo International Airport in Surakarta.
“They were not in line with prevailing procedures when they departed for the pilgrimage. We didn’t know they were there. I have contacted our embarkation point in Surakarta. We found this matter had become an inter-state concern,” said Saefuddin.
According to the Central Java chapter of the Law and Human Rights Ministry, 11 of the 19 Central Java haj pilgrims arrested in the Philippines are from Jepara, followed by five people from Semarang and three from Pati.
The director of the Central Java Police’s special crimes and investigation division, Sr. Comr. Edy Moestofa, said travel agents who dispatched the 19 haj pilgrims could be charged under Law No. 6/2011 on immigration. (ebf)
