Aceh, Peace and Weapons

An hour before entering the new year 2018, Muhammad Isa one of the community leaders from Beutong Sub-district handed over AK-47 weapons to police Nagan Raya police station. Muhammad Isa said the weapon is a relic of the Aceh conflict.

After the war of Atjeh and Indonesia ended in peace talks Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Helsinki, Firlandia, the weapons of Acehnese warriors have been cleared to the Indonesian security forces for destruction.

Nevertheless, there are still many Acehnese who keep firearms and do not hand them over to the police. However, after the high trust of the people of Aceh towards peace, then slowly firearms are submitted to the police.

This is done as Muhammad Isa who is also chairman of the NGO Fron Pembela Tanah Air (PETA) Nagan Raya who handed the Russian-made lagendaris to Police on Thursday night December 31, 2017.

Muhammad Isa claimed the weapon had been found since three months ago in the Beutong inland forest. He said the weapons were found on the river's edge in the woods in the absence of bullets.

"I submit this weapon to be more secure, so that people can work as before, so there will be no conflict in the future," he said.

Nagan Raya Police Chief AKBP Giyarto said the weapons were allegedly stemming from the rest of the Aceh conflict. The weapon was found by one of the citizens who was then handed over to Muhammad Isa. For security reasons, it keeps the name of the people who first discovered the firearm.

"We will keep this weapon, later we will destroy with some other weapons obtained during the raid," he said.