Commission I and II support Bali bombing probe
Commission I and II support Bali bombing probe
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali
The House of Representatives decided on Saturday to throw their
support behind the police investigation team of the Bali bombing
and urged people to refrain from criticizing the multinational
team.
The support was given after 17 members of House Commissions I
and II met bombing suspect Amrozi face-to-face for 10 minutes at
the Bali police headquarters in Denpasar.
Taking place in a room with windows allowing journalists to
look on, it was Amrozi's second public appearance since his
capture on Nov. 5 in his home town of Lamongan, East Java.
His first public show was held on Nov. 13 with National Police
chief Gen. Da'I Bachtiar, which sparked outrage and condemnation
from Tasmania to Alaska.
Similar to his spectacle, Amrozi, wearing a blue detainee T-
shirt with his hands handcuffed smiled and appeared relaxed. He
was able to answer questions smoothly posed by the legislators.
Reading from a written statement after the encounter with
Amrozi, Ishak Latuconsina, coordinator of the visiting
legislators told a news conference that Commissions I and II give
political support to the National Police "in order that our
national agenda of fighting terrorism can be carried out
effectively."
He urged all community members to refrain from unwarranted
criticism and malicious gossip in relation to the progress of the
investigation if they could not accept that the evidence that was
credible.
"If there is doubt, we hope they will check it first with the
National Police before publicly making comments," added
Latuconsina, a member of the Indonesian Military and National
Police faction in the House.
The 17 legislators, Yasril Ananta Baharuddin of Golkar
Party, Tjahyo Kumolo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), were briefed for more than three hours
by chief investigator Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika and Bali
Police chief Insp. Gen. Budi Setyawan before the news conference
and their meeting with Amrozi.
With packages of gifts including bed covers carried in a
minibus, the House members later left the Bali police
headquarters aboard a separate bus for the bomb site in Legian,
Kuta, where they stayed for 30 minutes.
Analysts have criticized the police for lacking transparency
in handling the Bali debacle as they have only focused on
tracking down the suspects currently still at large while
ignoring other avenues and at the same time continuing to issue
conflicting statements to the public.
Others have said the investigators must also concentrate on
identifying the device used in the large blast and the high
explosives such as RDX and TNT that could have been used to make
the huge bomb that killed over 190 people and injured some 300
others, mostly foreigners, in addition to finding the possible
masterminds outside of Amrozi's group of accomplices.
The House also welcomed the police success in hunting down
Amrozi and Imam Samudra, the alleged mastermind of the
devastating Bali attack in what it called a relatively short
time.
Samudra was captured without resistance on Thursday aboard a
public bus bound for Pekanbaru, Riau from his home town of
Serang, Banten. His arrest came less than one month after
Amrozi's.