Traffic Violation

IT was sundown when Taufik Noor Isya crossed the Indonesia-Malaysia border at Entikong, West Kalimantan, and headed for Kuching in Sarawak, two weeks ago. An hour later, just as Taufik, an Indonesian police liaison officer with the rank of commissioner, reached the town of Serian, his cellular phone rang. Although the number was unfamiliar, he took the call.

It was an officer in the Royal Malaysian police, who informed him that they had arrested two Indonesians at Hotel Citadines in Kuching city. They also told him that the two were members of the Indonesian police, who produced proper ID cards during their questioning. "But I did not believe it at first," Taufik told Tempo, who met him at Kuching last week.

September 9, 2014