Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here on Tuesday signed Presidential Decree Number 22, 2005 on general amnesty and abolition for Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members.

Minister/State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra announced the signing of the presidential decree at the presidential palace exactly 15 days after the signing of the peace agreement by the government and GAM representatives in Helsinki, Finland, on Aug. 15.

According to the decree, the general amnesty and abolition are granted to anybody involved in the GAM, living in the country or abroad, and to those who have or have not surrendered to the authorities.

The amnesty and abolition will also be granted to those who have completed or are still completing a counseling program carried out by the authorities as well as those who are still being examined or detained for a court investigation and those who have already been convicted, as well as those still serving prison terms.

Everyone who has been granted an amnesty or abolition will have his or her social, political and economic rights as well as other rights restored.

Those who have lost their citizenship and are now holding a foreign citizenship will have a right to have his or her Indonesian citizenship back.

The decree, however, does not apply to those involved in criminal offences not connected directly or casually to GAM activities or those linked to GAM using guns after the decree went into effect.

"The amnesty and abolition would be annulled if the recipient committed a treason against the Indonesian government after the date the decree went into effect," Yusril said while quoting one of the points in the decree.

He said the minister of justice and human rights would coordinate with the offices concerned in data collection and other administrative activities in the implementation of the decree.

The GAM has waged decades-old guerrilla war in Aceh against the government in order to establish an independent state. However, under the new peace deal, the GAM gave up it request for an independent state but turned to found its own political party instead.

Source: Xinhua