Protesters Demand Release of 6 Americans Detained by Indonesia

Carrying signs saying “Let them go” and “Free the Americans,” two dozen supporters of six Californians seized at sea and held by Indonesia for nearly two months marched outside that country’s Los Angeles consulate Friday, demanding their immediate release.

Representatives of the group met with Indonesian Consul General P. Poerwanto, who reportedly apologized for anguish caused to the detainees’ families. Poerwanto promised to check on their condition.

The detainees are due in court Monday in Tanjung Pinang, an island city about 500 miles northwest of Jakarta, to face charges of seeking scientific knowledge in what Indonesia claims is an “exclusive economic zone,” extending 200 miles offshore.

$250,000 Fine Possible

The charge carries a fine of up to $250,000 but no jail time.

The Americans, members of a scuba diving club called California Wreck Divers, have been restricted either to the Singapore-based Indonesian vessel Budi Indah or a hotel since their arrest March 22. They were held for 51 days before charges were filed.

Cliff Craft, 43, a building inspector from Whittier, complained by telephone that Indonesian officials have subjected the detainees to “extreme mental cruelty.” Craft said they were coerced into signing statements about the episode on the promise of speedy hearings and were denied basic human rights.

Craft and nine other detainees, including the other Californians, three Australians and an English ship captain, at one point signed a petition charging that they had been “illegally” held “on the most ridiculous charges imaginable.”

The other Californians are Pat Gibson, 47, of Van Nuys; Danny Cummerford, 38, of Orange; Jim Vorus of Santa Monica; and twins Bob and Bruce Lanham, 33, of Pleasant Hills in Northern California.

Ship Boarded

The Americans and Australians had chartered the Budi Indah and were sailing about 25 miles out to sea in the narrow strait between Singapore and the Indonesian island of Riau when armed Indonesian officials boarded the ship.

The Indonesians suspected that the divers were searching for a Dutch vessel that sank more than 200 years ago, according to Ruth van Heuven, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Consul Affairs in Washington.

Craft denied that was the group’s intention. He said he and the others were on a two-week diving holiday in international waters and were not acting illegally when they used sophisticated gear to try to locate a reef and then dropped a buoy to mark it.

“We made no attempt to escape from the police vessel as it approached, contrary to Indonesian press reports,” he said.

Craft charged that Indonesian officials did not keep their promise to inform U.S. officials of the arrests, and he expressed dissatisfaction with the apparent lack of effort by U.S. diplomats to help the Americans in the group.

“They are in good health and not being mistreated,” said Donna Culpepper, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta.