People-smuggling captain to get his vessel back

INDONESIAN authorities say a notorious trafficker can reclaim his boat on proof of ownership.

THE 98-tonne cargo ship occupied by protesting Sri Lankan asylum-seekers in Indonesia could be handed back to one of the region's most notorious people-smugglers if the refugees vacate it under a planned move this month.

Indonesian officials have confirmed that Abraham Louhenapessy (aka Captain Bram) - who has been linked to a syndicate once blamed for sending 30 per cent of all asylum-seekers to Australia - would be entitled to reclaim the vessel Jaya Lestari if he presents ownership documents to the authorities.

The revelation came as Indonesia's people-smuggling taskforce warned that the country could be overloaded by thousands of asylum-seekers, who were continuing to pour in from Malaysia probably en route to Australia. .

On Wednesday, Indonesian authorities in West Java picked up 30 asylum-seekers attempting to get on a boat to travel to Australia.

That Louhenapessy could be given back the boat he used for his recent smuggling operation highlights the inefficient and difficult nature of trying to police people-smuggling in Indonesia.

Louhenapessy, 50, who was caught on board the ship with the Sri Lankan Tamil asylum-seekers when it was intercepted in Indonesian waters last October, has been arrested twice before in connection with significant people-smuggling operations.

After the ship docked at Merak in Java's west last October, the 254 Tamil asylum-seekers refused to disembark, fearing they would wait years for resettlement if their claims were processed there.

Louhenapessy was allowed to go free and faced only minor charges in connection with the Jaya Lestari's crew not having appropriate paperwork. In March, he was convicted on a minor paperwork offence and given a one-year suspended sentence.

Louhenapessy has told officials he owns the boat, a diesel engine-powered wooden vessel, having purchased it for about $64,000 - money he had obtained from a mysterious financier or "boss" known only as Ruben.

This week, an elusive Louhenapessy refused to be drawn on his plans for the boat.

"I don't want to have to deal with it at the moment," he said by mobile phone from somewhere in Indonesia. "I'm not having a good time. I don't want to meet any journalists."

Merak Ports Administration chief Nyoman Gede Saputra said the Jaya Lestari's owner only had to present the appropriate ownership papers and ask for a letter designating the next destination and it would be allowed to go.

A spokesman for the Banten Province Police, Sugita, said police did not know what would happen with the boat as the investigation had been handled by the Indonesian navy.

A naval source said the navy had no further involvement in the case as it had gone to court.

Louhenapessy was not at his townhouse home in the sleepy, middle-class suburb of Bekasi in east Jakarta. A neighbour described him as very kind and nice.

This week, refugees on the Jaya Lestari, still anxiously waiting for news of their planned shift, recalled that when their ship docked in October, a group of men in civilian clothes who appeared to be associates of Louhenapessy had taken away all his documents and possessions.

A police record of interview with Louhenapessy after his October arrest obtained by The Weekend Australian reveals he may have perjured himself in court by contradicting admissions he had made to the police.

In the police report, he said he had been ordered by Ruben to travel to a certain point where he would meet the Tamil refugees and take them to another point where they would travel to Christmas Island.

In court, he said he had been a hero because he had happened to stumble across the Tamils and rescue them from their sinking boats.

During the police interview, he also appears to have been coy about his employment history, claiming he was a freelance debt collector from 2000 to 2003 and unemployed until now.

He failed to mention he had been arrested for people-smuggling in 2001 and in 2007.

In 2001, he and Pakistani Hasan Ayoub were arrested for trying to organise what then would have been the largest shipment of refugees to Australia.

A sting operation involving Australian Federal Police and Cambodian officials nabbed Louhenapessy and Ayoub in the early stages of the operation in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Their boat was carrying 248 refugees and was believed to be on its way to Indonesia to pick up more.

But Louhenapessy was released by Cambodian authorities after what is believed to have been intense lobbying by the Indonesian embassy. His partner Ayoub, however, received a lengthy sentence.

In 2007, Louhenapessy was arrested again, this time in connection with the arrival of 83 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers in international waters off Australia.

Louhenapessy was sentenced to two years' jail in Indonesia after being charged and convicted for hiding, protecting and harbouring people known to have entered Indonesia illegally.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has proposed tough laws to target people-smugglers, which are due to be discussed in parliament this year.

Additional reporting: Enny Zumaidar