FID regrets police statements on bombings
JAKARTA (JP): Police allegations that suspects of the Christmas Eve bombings were trained in Afghanistan were hasty and could cloud efforts to probe the attack, a member of the newly- established Indonesia Forum for Peace (FID) said on Sunday.
The Forum's state coordinator Bara Hasibuan feared that such a premature conclusion could deflect attention from the possible involvement of other parties in the bombings.
"Police seem too hasty. They should not follow past practices of accusing other parties, foreign parties," Bara told The Jakarta Post.
The Forum is a voluntary council set up by activists soon after the Christmas bombings as an effort to help the government identify the perpetrators of the bombings.
Bara also warned that such a hasty accusation could prompt a perception among the public that it is merely camouflage for the real masterminds of the bombings.
Another member of the Forum, Sapto Waluyo, also regretted the police's claims of foreign party involvement.
"We regret the police statements, accusing certain foreign groups of being behind the bombings," Sapto said.
He claimed that the Forum's team had collected more information and evidence concerning the bombings than had been revealed by the police.
"We are waiting for the right time to disclose everything."
The latest casualty of the Dec. 24 nationwide attacks died on Saturday night at St. Carolus Hospital, bringing the death toll to 18.
Chandra Tirta Wijaya, 16, is due to be buried Monday morning at Pondok Rangon cemetery in East Jakarta.
The youngest of three siblings had been in hospital since being struck by fragments of the bomb that exploded at St. Yosef Church in Central Jakarta.
Decree
Meanwhile a draft presidential decree to establish a special team to investigate the bombings is due to be submitted to the President for approval on Monday.
Asmara Nababan, a member of the Forum's fact-finding team, said here on Saturday that the draft would be submitted to the President by Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"The President is expected to sign it next week," Asmara said at a joint press conference with the spokesman for the Coordinating Minister, Maj. Gen. I Wayan Karya.
Asmara said that the establishment of a panel of government and Forum representatives would be included in the decree.
"The panel will have the legal power to oversee the investigation and to make sure that the case is brought to court," Asmara said, recalling how powerless the joint fact- finding team for the May 1998 tragedy turned out to be.
"The panel will have seven members, including Pak Susilo (Bambang Yudhoyono), National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Admiral Widodo A.S. and Attorney General Marzuki Darusman," Asmara said.
Spokesman for the Coordinating Minister's Office I Wayan Karya also affirmed that the government had agreed to include the panel in the draft decree.
Inclusion of the panel in the draft was approved after the Forum asked Susilo on Friday to establish a joint team of representatives from the Forum and the government.
"We decided that the panel was the best answer to ensure the implementation of the Criminal Code Procedures," I Wayan said, adding that according to regulations, only police or on-duty officers, can question suspects in criminal cases. (02/dja/jun)