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)