Deported students funded terrorist attacks, police say
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Four students recently deported from Pakistan financed terrorist activities across the country and provided training for terrorists, police investigators said on Friday.
"They helped and supported terror suspects with funds and training. We will find out how much and from where they got the money," said National Police Anti-Terror Division chief Brig. Gen. Pranowo.
He, however, did not say which terrorist suspects or attacks the students financed. Neither did he reveal the amount of money those students passed on.
One of the four students, Rusmawan Gunawan, alias Gun Gun, told Pakistani authorities earlier that he had sent US$50,000 and telecommunications device to his brother Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali, an Indonesian-born terrorist suspect.
The three other students were identified as Mohammad Syaifudin, Ilham Sofandi and Furqon Abdullah. The four of them were declared suspects on Thursday evening and are being held under Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism.
Pakistan deported six Indonesian students on Dec. 11 for violations of immigration laws and possible involvement in terrorist activities. Two others, David Pintarto and Muhammad Anwar As-Shaddaqi, were released on Tuesday due to lack of evidence linking them with any crimes here.
Hambali is the alleged leader of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asia terrorist network blamed for a string of terrorist attacks in the region, including the Bali bombings on Oct. 12, 2002 and the JW Marriott Hotel attack in Jakarta on Aug. 5, 2003.
Believed to be Osama bin Laden's point man in Southeast Asia, Hambali was arrested in Thailand in August and is currently in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Thursday afternoon that the students only had an indirect role in the bombings because they were in Pakistan at the time.
He also emphasized the importance of interrogating Hambali directly so that the police could find out the links between them.
"We have tried hard enough to get access to Hambali from the U.S. government, either access to him or his dossier. But we haven't had a reply from the U.S," Da'i stated.
Meanwhile, one of the students' lawyers, Munarman, said on Friday that they still considered the detention illegal because it was not in accordance with existing laws, especially Law No. 8/1981 on arrest procedures and the Criminal Code Procedure (KUHAP).
"First of all, we and the students' families haven't received any letters from the police yet. Secondly, If there is Pakistani intelligence evidence linking the students to terrorists, then the evidence can't be used here in Indonesia," said Munarman.
He also said that police should have submitted the intelligence evidence to a local court prior to the arrest, not during the detention.
Indonesia has been rocked by some powerful terrorist attacks such as the Bali bombings on Oct. 12, 2002, which killed over 200 people and injured over 300 others, and the JW Marriot Hotel attacks in South Jakarta on Aug. 5, 2003, killing at least 14 people, including the suicide bomber.