Atrium bomb suspect released

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Police released on Thursday a suspect in the Atrium Senen Plaza bombing, Aznani Lubis, on humanitarian grounds.

Chief of the Jakarta Police detective Sr. Comr. Adang Rochana told reporters that he had authorized the release after a request by Aznani's lawyers and relatives.

"She has been released from custody but she is still a suspect and has the obligation to report to us twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays," Adang said.

The mother of two children had been detained since Sept. 24, one day after the blast at the shopping mall.

Adang said the police finally granted the request after considering that the 31-year-old suspect was a mother and that her children need her.

"Another reason is that we have finished questioning her and during the questioning Aznani was very cooperative with our investigators," Adang added.

Police had earlier related the bombing to the Free Aceh Movement as Aznani's husband, Tengku Ismuhadi, was believed to be close to the organization. Ismuhadi is now serving a life sentence at Cipinang Penitentiary for his role in last year's bombing at the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

Aznani was named a suspect after police discovered that the car used in the Atrium blast once belonged to Ismuhadi.

At the request of her husband from behind bars, Aznani sold the car to Ramli, who is at large.

This was the second bomb explosion at Atrium Plaza, after one occurred in August. No fatalities were reported in the two incidents.

Fourteen members of a jihad group, including three Malaysians, were detained for their alleged roles in the first Atrium bombing.

The police have not announce whether the two bombings are related.

According to the police, the first bombing was linked to a series of church bombings in the capital and other cities around the country last Christmas Eve.