Poso attackers face stiff charges<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto and Erik W., The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police said on Friday that 15 suspects being held for their
\nalleged roles in a series of renewed attacks in Poso and
\nneighboring Morowali regency, Central Sulawesi, would be charged
\nunder Law No. 15\/2003 on terrorism.<\/p>\n
Under the Antiterrorism Law passed after the Bali bombings in
\nOct. 2002, the detained assailants could face the death penalty
\nif found guilty.<\/p>\n
It will be the first time the law has been applied to a crime
\nother than bombings.<\/p>\n
\"Although the form of violence was similar to that during the
\npast conflict, their (the suspects) actions could be categorized
\nas terrorist acts,\" National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
For that reason, they will be charged under the antiterrorism
\nlaw, he said.<\/p>\n
Da'i, however, fell short of detailing why the police
\nconsidered the fresh violence an act of terror.<\/p>\n
He merely explained that the assailants trained before
\nperpetrating the attacks.<\/p>\n
\"Before launching the attacks, someone summoned them
\n(accomplices) and provided them with weapons. The purpose of the
\ntraining was (to prepare) for the attacks,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Da'i said the suspects stated that the ammunition and firearms
\nthey used in the attacks had been smuggled in from the southern
\nPhilippines, where rebels have been fighting for independence.<\/p>\n
Echoing Da'i's statement, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen.
\nBasyir Barmawi said the munitions were smuggled in from the
\nsouthern Philippines because of their lower prices.<\/p>\n
\"The prices (of bullets and firearms) in the southern
\nPhilippines can be one third of the prices here,\" he told a media
\nbriefing at the National Police Headquarters, Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sugianto
\nconfirmed that the 15 detainees would be charged with violating
\narticles 6 and 7 of Law No. 15\/2003.<\/p>\n
The suspects will also be charged with breaching Law No.
\n12\/1951 on the use of firearms, and articles of the Criminal Code
\non murder with a firearm, he added.<\/p>\n
Adj. Sr. Comr. Hermansyah, detective chief of the Central
\nSulawesi Police, said his personnel had seized seven automatic
\nweapons, including two 45-caliber FN pistols, one M-16 gun and
\none AK-47, from the detainees.<\/p>\n
At least 500 bullets and four magazines were also confiscated
\nas evidence, he added.<\/p>\n
At least 10 people, mostly Christians, were killed when masked
\ngunmen launched predawn raids on three coastal villages in Poso
\non Oct. 12.<\/p>\n
Two days earlier, similar assailants killed three people and
\nburned down about 30 houses and a church in Beteleme village,
\nLembo subdistrict, Morowali regency.<\/p>\n
The attacks were fueled by vengeance stemming from the earlier
\nconflicts, investigators quoted the suspects as saying.<\/p>\n
In the intensive hunt for the attackers, a joint police and
\nmilitary force shot dead six suspects in a Morowali forest and
\ncaptured 15 others.<\/p>\n
Muhammadong, alias Madong, the alleged planner of the attacks,
\nwas shot dead last week in a gunfight.<\/p>\n
Three of the 15 detainees -- Ardianto, alias Ole; Ishak, alias
\nJeki; and Abid, alias David -- were hospitalized with bullet
\nwounds.<\/p>\n
The remaining 12 currently being interrogated are Hasyim;
\nHamdan; Safry, alias Aco; Arman; Abbas; Abdul Haer; Andang;
\nHendra Yadi; Suhardi; Rahmat Jeba; and Tepang.<\/p>\n
Hasyim, from Ampana subdistrict, claimed he had been asked by
\nMadong to undergo training in self-defense with school children
\nin Poso.<\/p>\n
However, he was taken with the other suspects into a forest
\nfor one month of target practice, Hasyim said, adding that Madong
\nlater provided him with weapons to attack locals.<\/p>\n
Madong and two other suspects -- Rahmat Jeba and Aco -- had
\nlong been wanted by the police for their alleged involvement in
\nprevious crimes in Poso, Agus said.<\/p>\n
The police said most of the suspects were Poso natives, but at
\nleast two were originally from Lamongan regency in East Java, the
\nhometown of convicted Bali bombers Amrozi, Ali Imron and Ali
\nGhufron, alias Mukhlas.<\/p>\n
The Bali blasts and other bombings in the country have been
\nblamed on the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional extremist network
\nthat authorities say has ties to al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
A report by the International Crisis Group of political
\nanalysts says that JI considers Poso a potential training ground.<\/p>\n
The recent killings raised fears of a return to the Muslim-
\nChristian fighting, which first broke out in early 2000 and
\nclaimed the lives of about 2,000 people in Poso over two years.<\/p>\n
The government brokered a peace deal in December 2001, but
\nsporadic violence continued.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poso-attackers-face-stiff-charges-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}