Ba'asyir transferred to Nat'l Police HQ
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Ujung Pandang
Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was transferred to the National Police Headquarters' detention center on Saturday after undergoing treatment for almost two months in the Kramat Jati Police Hospital in East Jakarta.
The 64-year-old Ba'asyir, detained for his alleged involvement in a series of nationwide bomb attacks on Christmas Eve 2000 and a plot to assassinate President Megawati Soekarnoputri, was declared healthy enough to undergo questioning at police headquarters.
One of his lawyers, Muhammad Assegaf, told Agence France- Presse on Saturday that the police had the right to transfer Ba'asyir as he was being held in police custody.
"My client was moved this morning to National Police Headquarters as the police deemed him fit enough to be questioned," Assegaf said.
"The police have every right to do this as my client is a police detainee," said Assegaf, adding that Ba'asyir was insisting he would not respond to police questioning.
A police doctor who declined to be named told reporters that Ba'asyir was in good health.
Ba'asyir is also wanted in neighboring countries Singapore and Malaysia as he has been accused of being the spiritual leader of the Jemmah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network.
Police investigators are still trying to establish Ba'asyir's involvement in the deadly Bali bombings on Oct. 12, and the Makassar bombings on Dec. 5.
Meanwhile, in South Sulawesi, police announced the names of six new suspects in the bombings on the eve of Idul Fitri that killed three people and injured 11 others.
The new suspects were identified as Abdul Hamid, Ihwal Hamid, Mirzal, Itang, Khaerul and Kahar Mustafa. Abdul Hamid and Ihwal Hamid are respectively the father and a brother of Agung Hamid, the alleged mastermind of the Makassar bombing, who is still at large.
With the naming of the six new suspects, police have so far declared 16 people to be suspects in the bombings.
"Of the six new suspects, only Mirzal is still at large. Out of the total number of 16 suspects, we have still to arrest four: Agung Hamid, Dahlan, Hibullah Rasyid and Mirzal," South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said on Saturday.
Firman said that the suspects had different roles in the bombings, and had been charged under the tough new antiterrorism regulation.
On Saturday, police investigators raided the house of suspect Dahlan, from which they seized several documents, computer discs, and a photograph of Dahlan.
The search was conducted under the watchful gaze of a team of lawyers belonging to Antiterrorism Regulation Victims' Legal Team (TAKPAT).
The lawyers said they would file a pre-trial motion against the police for raiding the home of Masnur, also one of the suspects.
Police accuse Masnur of being the bombmaker, a charge that Masnur has strongly denied.