Countering terrorists

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.