TAWAU: Freed after spending two months and three days in jail in Tarakan in East Kalimantan for illegal entry, five Malaysians were unable to leave because all express boats to Tawau experienced engine failure.
Indonesian consulate police liaison officer here, Rudy Setiawan, told The Star that the ferry services from Tarakan were halted yesterday due to “technical problems” on the vessels.
“We are hoping the ferry operators can rectify the problems so that the Malaysians can return home by Saturday (today),” he said.
Rudy said he was informed that the five Malaysians, former native chief Datuk Malili Mali, 63; politician Harman Muhamad, 48; telecommunications company employees Akil Hamarudin, 51, and Dawan Tasau, 33, and Harman’s driver Musa Jaafar, 33, were staying at a Tarakan hotel.
“I understand their disappointment but arrangements are being made for them to return home as soon as possible,” he added.
On Thursday, the Tarakan court sentenced the five men to two months and three days jail and fined them two million rupiah (RM805) for entering Indonesia illegally.
Their jail sentence was exactly the same as the number of days they had been detained since their arrest at Pulau Sebatik on March 30.
On May 9, all five pleaded guilty to charges of illegal entry but the court had postponed sentencing till Thursday.
