Army officer charged with JSX bomb blast

Army officer charged with JSX bomb blast

JAKARTA (JP): An Army non-commissioned officer went on trial
on Monday for his alleged involvement in last year's bombing of
the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building on Jl. Jend. Sudirman,
and a grenade explosion in the parking lot of the Malaysian
Embassy on Jl. HR Rasuna Said, South Jakarta.

After the first hearing, Army Strategic Reserves Command
(Kostrad) Second Corp. Ibrahim Hasan, 31, was brought before
another panel of judges of the South Jakarta District Court to
hear the reading out of the charges in a separate but related
case. Both trials are being conducted jointly by civilian and
military judges.

At the first hearing, Ibrahim, along with a member of the
Army's Special Force (Kopassus), Sgt. Irwan bin Ilyas, 30, were
accused of playing an active role in the JSX bombing last Sept.
13 which claimed 10 lives, injured 46, damaged 179 cars, and
severely damaged the building.

Prosecutor Soejitno said in the indictment that the two
defendants allegedly committed the crime along with Tengku
Ismuhadi Jafar and Nuryadin, who also went on trial separately on
Monday; Ibrahim Amd, who escaped from jail in February; as well
as three other suspects who are still at large.

The prosecutor said that the bombing was planned in July of
last year by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

At first, the plan was to blow up the Java-Bali electricity
interconnection control center in Ciganjur, South Jakarta.
According to the prosecutor, the plan had been drawn up by Jafar,
a GAM member who provided the link between other members of the
group in Aceh, Jakarta and abroad.

The target was then switched to the JSX building which is a
hub of the country's international commerce.

This was in line with the purpose of the bombing which was to
damage the country's economy, and, in particular, to increase the
dollar's rate of exchange against the rupiah.

Before detonating the bomb, Soejitno said, Jafar, the owner of
Krung Baro auto repair workshop in South Jakarta, had bought
dollars worth Rp 176 million (US$17,600).

The prosecutor also said that the building was bombed a day
before former president Soeharto was scheduled to stand trial, so
as to give rise to the suspicion that the bombers were Soeharto's
supporters.

The defendants were accused of violating Article 1(1) of
Emergency Law No. 12/1951 on the possession and use of ammunition
or explosives.

The crime carries a maximum penalty of death and a minimum 20-
year jail term.

Irwan had refused to attend two previous hearings, arguing
that he had not received the summons.

According to the prosecutor, the summons had been sent to the
penitentiary where the defendants had been detained since early
April.

Lawyer Johnson Panjaitan from the Indonesian Legal Aid and
Human Rights Association (PBHI), representing the defendants,
said, however, that his clients had refused to come to the court
as they had not received the summonses as late as yesterday.
"It's our initiative to bring them to today's hearings," he told
reporters.

Later on Monday, Ibrahim and Iswadi H. Jamil, 30, an
entrepreneur, went on trial for their alleged involvement in Aug.
27, 2000's grenade explosion in the parking lot of the Malaysian
Embassy in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Ibrahim and Iswadi are among eight persons suspected of being
involved in the incident -- five of them are still at large.

Prosecutor Sulaeman Hadjarati said that Ibrahim and Iswadi
obtained the two grenades, which cost Rp 2 million, in Bandung,
West Java, from another Kopassus soldier, who is still at large.

The prosecutor, however, did not relate the case to GAM and he
did not give any motive for the crimes allegedly perpetrated by
the defendants.

Lawyer Panjaitan said the prosecutors wanted to give the
impression that the bombing at the JSX building and the grenade
explosions were connected.

"The charges are out of proportion. The defendants are even
being charged with the same articles," he said.

The trials were adjourned until next Tuesday.(hdn)