Forty Indonesians staged a protest in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta to register their anger over the arrest of three Indonesian Marine and Fisheries Ministry officers by Malaysian authorities near Bintan, Riau Islands on Friday.

The protest led by the Lumbung Informasi Rakyat (Lira) later handed over a protest note to the Head of Chancery in Jakarta, Raja Reza Raja Zaib Shah.

About 100 Indonesian policemen were present at the scene to prevent any untoward incidents since on Monday, a similar protest by about 80 Indonesians, led by Laskar Merah Putih (LMP), acted violently by splashing mud on the embassy's plaque and climbed up the security booth and the main gate.

During a brief meeting with Malaysian Embassy officials, Lira hoped such incidents would not happen again.

The protesters had also staged a similar protest in front of the Petronas office in Mega Kuningan before arriving at the embassy.

The demonstration was held in protest of the action taken by the Malaysian Marine Operations Force to detain three Indonesian Marine and Fisheries Ministry enforcement officers at the maritime border near Riau.

The officers were detained while they were arresting seven Malaysian fishermen, alleged to have poached into Indonesian waters.

- Bernama