BIN denies involvement in Agus' arrest in RP

BIN denies involvement in Agus' arrest in RP

Yogita Tahilramani and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's National Intelligence Agency (BIN) denied on
Tuesday it was involved in the arrest of Muslim activist Agus
Dwikarna by police detectives and intelligence officers in the
Philippines.

BIN lawyer Muchyar Yara said that on the contrary, the agency
had sent a formal letter to the director general of the
Philippine Intelligence Services requesting the release of Agus
and two other Indonesians recently arrested by the Philippine
National Police (PNP).

"BIN has actively advocated for the release of the three. BIN
was not involved in the arrests, and the accusation that BIN
made a request to the PNP not to release one of the arrested
Indonesians is false. Instead, (PNP) is conducting further
investigations in regard to the Indonesian who was not released,"
Muchyar told The Jakarta Post.

Muchyar was referring to Agus, who was recently arrested in
the Philippines along with the former treasurer of the National
Mandate Party (PAN), Tamsil Linrung, and businessman Abdul Jamal
Balfas.

The three men were arrested at Ninoy Aquino Airport on March
13 for possession of bomb-making materials. They were also
accused of immigration violations.

Tamsil and Abdul Jamal were released as a result of intensive
lobbying efforts on the part of the Indonesian government.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is reported to have reached a
political agreement with PAN in the release of Tamsil and Abdul
Jamal.

Indonesian Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Tuesday he
recently received information that Agus was allegedly involved in
a bombing last year in Makassar, South Sulawesi. The general said
he was unsure how or if this allegation was connected to Agus's
arrest in the Philippines.

"I'm not sure how the bombing is linked to Agus's arrest in
the Philippines. In any case, we will conduct an investigation
into Agus's case," Da'i told reporters on Tuesday.

Despite protests by Islamic groups over the detention, the
allegations against Agus have left him in detention and the
subject of continuing investigations by Philippine detectives.

Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines have accused Indonesia
of being lenient on terrorists. Indonesia has denied the charges,
saying that it lacks draconian laws like the Internal Security
Act used by Singapore and Malaysia to detain anyone suspected of
having links with terrorism, without proper evidence.

Singapore and Malaysia have claimed that Indonesian Muslim
cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is a pivotal figure in an alleged
terrorist group. The countries made the accusation after men
arrested by Malaysian and Singaporean police on suspicion of
terrorism claimed that Ba'asyir was a leader of their militant
group.

Ba'asyir himself could be eligible for amnesty in a 17-year-
old conviction on subversion charges, Minister of Justice and
Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said last week they would arrest Ba'asyir on the
basis of a 1985 Supreme Court conviction for subversion, once the
court gave them the official nod. Ba'asyir fled to Malaysia
before he could be jailed.

Yusril said the government had given a blanket amnesty to
everyone convicted under a 1963 antisubversion law, which former
president Soeharto used against his opponents, but had overlooked
Ba'asyir and his nine-year jail sentence.

"Ba'asyir is not yet on the list of people who have been given
amnesty .... Up until now he has not informed us (of his return
to Indonesia) so he was overlooked," Mahendra said.