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Indonesia seeks consular access to detained citizens in Malaysia
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Illustration of a person being handcuffed. (Shutterstock/-)
T
he Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is seeking consular access to all the Indonesians currently detained in Malaysia for alleged involvement with the Islamic State (IS) group.
“The embassy has not received a complete consular notification from the Malaysian government regarding the arrests of Indonesian citizens. The embassy will request consular access to all detained Indonesian citizens,” Foreign Ministry Director for the Protection of Citizens and Legal Entities Overseas Judha Nugraha said on Thursday evening.
The embassy, Judha said, would also “provide assistance to guarantee the rights of the Indonesian citizens under local laws.”
According to Malaysian authorities, 12 Indonesians, three Malaysians and an Indian were detained between July 10 and Sept. 25 in various parts of Malaysia, including Sabah, Selangor, Sarawak, Penang, Pahang and Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian police suspect that some of the suspects had been active on social media in recruiting for IS and spreading jihadi teachings, and some were also believed to be planning to launch attacks against politicians and non-Muslims in the country.
“The first suspect, an Indonesian man aged 25, was detained in Keningau, Sabah, on July 10. We believe the suspect was helping Indonesian Islamic State militants to smuggle themselves to the southern Philippines via Sabah,” police counterterrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said, as reported by The Star on Thursday.
Judha confirmed that some of the Indonesian detainees were known to have spread radical ideas on social media.
