The Marine Operations Force (MOF) today disclosed its version of what transpired during the alleged maritime border incident last month which has sparked ugly anti-Malaysia protests in Indonesia.

MOF commander Isa Munir said the Indonesian maritime and fisheries enforcement authorities had arrested the seven Malaysian fishermen on Aug 13 in Malaysian waters.

The MOF reacted by detaining three of the Indonesian officers as they had trespassed into Malaysian territory, he said.

He also said that the MOF had not roughed up the officers, no handcuffs were used on them, none of them were stripped, and no shots were fired, as had been alleged by the Indonesians.

The MOF did not arbitrarily use handcuffs on any foreigner caught for trespassing in Malaysian waters, he said, adding that handcuffs were only used on those caught for crimes such as murder or robbery.

Isa also explained that the MOF officers only fired the flare gun twice as a warning in that incident.

"The flare gun is usually used to light up an area and to warn boats. It is unlike an ordinary pistol with bullets.

"We will never use guns at will unless our lives are threatened, and then also we adhere to procedure," he told Bernama when contacted.

Isa said that on the day in question, one of the Indonesian officers became aggressive and had to be restrained by having his hands tied with a piece of rope.

"It is the norm for us not to carry handcuffs when patrolling the waters.

"Handcuffs are only taken along during an operation, particularly against criminals.

"But in this case, we had to tie his hands because he became aggressive. We took the best measures we could and did not act violently against them," he said.

On a claim that one of the officers was stripped, Isa said one of the three officers hid himself in the engine room when he was to be detained and he was already down to his underpants when found.

Isa also questioned the necessity for the boat carrying the Indonesian maritime and fisheries enforcement officers to flee when the MOF boat approached the vessel after they (the Indonesians) had intercepted the five Malaysian fishing boats.

He said that based on the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Malaysian fishing boats were well within Malaysian waters when they were intercepted by the Indonesian enforcement authorities.

"When the MOF received information on the detention of our fishermen, we checked the GPS and realised that they were in our waters, eight nautical miles from Tanjung Punggal," he said.

Isa said that when foreign fishermen trespassed into Malaysian waters, the MOF boats would approach them and instruct them to leave Malaysian waters.

"They may have ventured into our waters without knowing it," he said.

He advised Malaysian fishermen to use the GPS device to determine their coordinates so as not to wander out of Malaysian waters.

"Many fishing boats, including trawlers, now use the GPS. We can only trace them in an emergency if they use the GPS," he said.

- Bernama