Prosecutor drops case against Hasan Tiro<\/p>\n
Associated Press, Stockholm<\/p>\n
A Swedish prosecutor has dropped an investigation of the exiled
\nleader of the Aceh rebel movement, saying the aging Hasan Tiro no
\nlonger controls the group, news reports said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Tiro, 80, and two other exiled leaders of the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM) are accused by Indonesia of staging
\nassassinations, bombings and kidnappings.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand told newspaper Dagens Nyheter that
\nTiro's \"executive capacity\" was limited because of his ill
\nhealth. Malik Mahmud, 64, and Zaini Abdullah, 63, are still being
\ninvestigated, Lindstrand said. All three live in exile in Sweden.<\/p>\n
Chief Prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand was not reachable for a
\ncomment but a spokesman for Tiro confirmed the report.<\/p>\n
\"He looks very positive on the decision,\" Muhammad Hussin
\nSiarif told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's government asked Sweden to investigate the three
\nleaders, saying they were behind a September 2000 blast at the
\nJakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) that killed 15 people, as well as
\nseveral other bombings, two assassinations, six arson attacks at
\nschools and 243 kidnappings.<\/p>\n
The Free Aceh Movement has denied the accusations, saying its
\nactions are confined to the province of 4.1 million people on the
\nnorthern tip of Sumatra Island.<\/p>\n
All three men are Swedish citizens and cannot be extradited.<\/p>\n
The Acehnese have been fighting for independence on-and-off
\nsince the 1870s, when their homeland was invaded by Dutch troops
\nand incorporated into their East Indies colony, which in 1945
\ngained independence as Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The latest round of fighting began in 1976. More than 12,000
\npeople have died in the province in the past decade.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prosecutor-drops-case-against-hasan-tiro-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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