The Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt is asking for an explanation from the Egyptian government regarding the arrest and torture of four Indonesian students studying at Al-Azhar University, Cairo.
“The ambassador will ask for clarification,” spokesperson of Foreign Affairs Department, Teuku Faizasyah, told Tempo, in Jakarta, yesterday (5/7).
Faizasyah said that after releasing the four students on Wednesday last week, the Egyptian government has not given any clarification.
“We have sent a letter but it is not been replied to yet,” he said.
Faizasyah said he suspected a procedural mistake by Egyptian security personnel in the incident, the first time anything like this has happened.
“It is ironic. They went there to study under a scholarship program,” he said.
He explained that Indonesian embassy in Egypt asked for the students to be released.
The embassy would have announced the students as missing if they had not been released.
Faizasyah said that the students" physical and psychological conditions have been treated.
“They were still shocked,” he said.
However, the four students refuse to go home.
“They want to finish their studies,” said Faizasyah.
The students include Ahmad Yunus, 26; Fathurrahman, 25; Tasrih Sugandi, 23, and Azril, 19.
The incident happened on Sunday two weeks ago.
One group of Egyptian security personnel examined their rented house at District X, Nasser City, Kairo.
During the examination, four students were found while two students were leaving.
The security group found a poster of Syekh Ahmad Yassin in the house. Yassin is a founder and Hamas spiritual figure, who died five years ago.
The four students from Riau were taken to the police station and interrogated with their eyes closed. They were asked questions regarding the poster.
“We were hit and given electric shocks,” said Ahmad Yunus on Saturday last week. The victim in the worst condition is Fathurrahman. “They gave electric shocks to my penis seven times,” he said.
SUTARTO
Other Topics: