Countering terrorists

As might be expected, the bomb blast that rocked the Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta on Tuesday and the discovery of two more live bombs the following day has sent waves of speculation reverberating across the country. With the bombing and the attempt made on Wednesday, an era of political terrorism has arrived in Jakarta. The only fortunate thing was that no casualties occurred. Only a section of the office where the bomb was planted was damaged.

Officials at the Attorney General's Office said that had the second attempt on Wednesday succeeded, the blasts from the two active devices planted between water pipes and the ceiling could have wrecked a quarter of the building. Given that previously the Attorney General's Office had never been a target of terrorist attacks and considering that the institution is currently deep in the process of investigating key figures of the former Soeharto regime, political motives behind the incidents are naturally suspected. It would be highly illogical, under the circumstances, to assume that both incidents were the handiwork of someone totally disinterested in politics or current events, as is sometimes the case, for example, with people who are emotionally unstable and who commit irresponsible acts merely for the thrill of it.

The question is, who among the parties with an interest in the ongoing investigations is responsible for the blast on Tuesday and the further attempts on Wednesday, and were the bombs planted by one and the same party, or person, or were different parties and people involved? To be frank, there must at present be quite a number of people who hold grudges against the Attorney General's Office and its head, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman, in particular.

First of all, suspicion has fallen, once again, on followers of former president Soeharto's erstwhile New Order regime. After all, it is argued, Tuesday's bomb blast occurred only about an hour after state prosecutors questioned the former president's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, over his father's alleged graft during his 32-year-long rule. One is reminded in this incidence of an unsolved shooting incident in March, when Tommy was being questioned by the House of Representatives over irregularities in a clove trade monopoly he was heading in the past and which was abrogated by his successor, B.J. Habibie. A window was shattered in the incident, but neither the gunman nor the motive were disclosed.

A conflicting theory, however, holds that the bombing must have been carried out by parties who are dissatisfied with the tardy performance of the Attorney General's Office in investigating prevailing cases of corruption involving former officials and business cronies of the Soeharto administration. Yet another assumption even has it that the bombs could have been planted by the attorney general's supporters to distract people from his inability to prosecute perpetrators of past cases of corruption in high places.

At this point, the official investigation of Tuesday's bombing incident, and of two more potentially more damaging bombs on Wednesday, seems to point to the involvement of supporters of the old regime -- or "supporters of the status quo", to use the words of police chief Rusdihardjo. Whether or not this will be proven true, the possibility must not be taken lightly, since they have both the strongest motive and ample means to do so. If it is true, the government must act with confidence and strength to quell their illegal activities and take the culprits to trial.

Whatever the case, and especially if these latest assumptions are proven to be true, it is important that the attorney general and his staff do not yield to the pressure. Rather, it should spur them to put more zest into their attempts to bring the big- time corruptors to court. At the same time, security at the Attorney General's Office, and elsewhere, should be considerably increased as to prevent further bomb and other terrorist attacks, which are likely to increase in the run-up to next month's General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

The degree to which the National Police are able to meet this challenge will reflect on its professional standing, and, hence, on the respect which the public at large will bestow upon them.