Coffee jaunt 'risky and downright irresponsible'

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Whatever motives were behind the excursion of a convicted Bali bomber with an investigator to an upscale Jakarta coffee house on Wednesday night, a former police officer says it was too risky and downright irresponsible.

A lecturer in Sociology and Law at the University of Indonesia and a former police officer, Bambang Widodo, said on Friday the interrogation methods apparently being used by bomb squad chief Brig. Gen. Gorries Mere when he took convict terrorist Ali Imron out for coffee were a failure.

"Gorries was supposedly conducting an 'undercover mission'. But the fact that people recognized him proves that he failed to do that," Bambang told The Jakarta Post.

He also questioned Gorries' decision to expose the convict to the public, saying it was very risky because he could flee or the other members of the terrorist group could make contact with him.

"What if a member of Imron's terror group shot him to make him keep his mouth shut? The police can lose a very important source of information, or what if Gorries himself was shot?" Bambang wondered.

He said there were many ways to conduct a comfortable interrogation without having to take so many risks.

"Comfortable for who? I doubt that Imron felt comfortable in that upscale cafe. There are many places where police could question suspects without making them feel intimidated," he said.

Remorseful Bali bomber Imron was spotted by several reporters at the Starbucks in Central Jakarta on Wednesday night with Gorries.

National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono said that Gorries, an officer who has been closely involved in the investigation into the 2002 Bali blasts, had taken Imron using all the proper procedures and had taken proper security measures to prevent the convict from escaping.

Imron was not handcuffed during the outing but was guarded by a sufficient number of police personnel, Suyitno said.

Meanwhile, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar acknowledged the case had raised questions from the general public as to why a convict was treated to coffee excursion.

"I have asked his (Gorries') superior to question him. He should explain whether he was there to conduct an investigation or not," Da'i said on Friday.

Suyitno said that Gorries and Imron were to meet with a psychologist and Abu Fida alias Saifuddin, a terror suspect believed to have met with two Malaysian fugitives Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Moh Top. The Malaysians are wanted for the Bali blasts and the bomb attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last year.

Saifuddin was captured in Surabaya in early August. He was reportedly tortured by the police officers, and is now in a state of deep depression, unwilling to speak. However, the police have denied the accusation.

"Gorries wanted to get information from Saifuddin through Ali Imron because both come from the same group. My officers believed that Imron together with the psychologist could make Saifuddin talk about Noordin and Azahari," said Suyitno.

From the interrogation, he said, the police managed to trace the whereabouts of the most-wanted Malaysians, Suyitno added.