Five ex-negotiators of GAM to stand trial
Five ex-negotiators of GAM to stand trial
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
Five former negotiators of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), along
with dozens of other suspected rebels, will go on trial
immediately for their alleged involvement in acts of terrorism
and subversion.
Spokesman for the government prosecutor's office in Banda Aceh
Zainal Saed said here on Tuesday that his office had appointed 18
prosecutors to the trial, which would open next week at the
latest.
"We will use Articles 13 and 15 of the Government Regulation
in Lieu of Law No. 1/2000 and Articles 106 and 107 on subversion
from the Criminal Code, which carry a maximum death sentence, to
prosecute the suspects. We have yet to decide upon the sentence
we will be seeking, because we are still studying their
dossiers," he said.
The five ex-negotiators -- Teungku Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba,
Teuku Kamaruzzaman, Teungku Nashiruddin bin Ahmed, Teungku
Muhamad Usman and Teungku Amni Marzuki -- were arrested only
hours after the government imposed martial law and launched its
military operation to crush the separatist movement on May 19.
The five were arrested at Sultan Iskandar Muda Blang Bintang
airport in Banda Aceh as they were trying to escape overseas.
Sofyan Tiba, along with the four other ex-negotiators, were
held at the provincial police jail for security reasons. The five
said they were in good health and that they were accompanied by a
legal team from the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Institute (YLBHI) during police interrogation.
Zainal explained that the five were allegedly involved in
provoking rebels to carry out terrorism and violence to topple
the Jakarta government, and that they were allegedly involved in
the series of bomb attacks this year in Aceh, the North Sumatra
capital of Medan and Jakarta.
"Their cases are based on material evidence such as photos,
GAM badges and many confidential documents confiscated from the
suspects," he said.
The police submitted on Tuesday the case files of the five,
along with 23 others', to prosecutors.
Spokesman for Aceh Provincial Police Sr. Comr. Sayed Husaini
said the 23 were from a total of 41 suspected rebels the police
had interrogated, and would stand trial soon.
He said that the police had so far arrested 249 suspected
rebels, including 14 handed over by the military and 19 others
who voluntarily surrendered to the police.
"All of them will be brought to court," he said, adding that
the military was still interrogating hundreds of rebels,
including 99 in the provincial capital.
The legal process is part of the military offensive to crush
the Acehnese separatist movement that was launched in response to
"past injustice and human right abuses" by Jakarta in the
resource-rich province.
Unlike previous days, no casualties were reported on Tuesday,
but the military operation headquarters said that a group of
soldiers and police personnel had shot dead seven rebels and
confiscated seven rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition on
Monday in a single skirmish in Jamur Pulung village, Gayo Luwes
regency.
Lt. Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki, spokesman for the military
operation in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, said the firefight occurred
after rebels burned on Sunday seven Mitsubishi L-300 vans and a
truck in the village. Three civilians were killed in the
incident.
"The firefight happened during an attempt to hunt down the
rebels who torched the vans and killed the three civilians," he
said.
The rebels' bodies were handed over to local residents for
burial.
In other developments, more than 10,000 residents of Aceh
Besar regency swore loyalty to the government, while more than
42,000 Acehnese people from refugee camps across the province
were allowed to go back home after their home villages were
declared safe.
Speaking on Tuesday at a simple ceremony in Lambaro, Aceh
Besar regent Sayuti Is strongly urged villagers to help maintain
security in their villages so that development programs could
proceed.
"We should never be afraid of the armed rebellion or driving
the rebels away, because we are with security personnel," he said
at the ceremony attended by local police and military officials.
Chief of the local social affairs office Burhanuddin said that
almost 43,000 from more than 85 camps in the province had
returned to their homes because of the improved security
situation.
He said the refugees had been trained in agriculture and
farming and given financial aid so that they could resume their
daily activities to improve their welfare.
The remaining refugees in Bireuen number only 2,000, as 18,000
people had returned home, and the majority of 14,000 refugees in
South Aceh had also gone home.
Burhanuddin said more than 5,000 refugees in East Aceh were
still occupying emergency tents near police and military offices
in the regency, because of the frequent clashes between rebels
and security personnel over the last two weeks.
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
Five former negotiators of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), along
with dozens of other suspected rebels, will go on trial
immediately for their alleged involvement in acts of terrorism
and subversion.
Spokesman for the government prosecutor's office in Banda Aceh
Zainal Saed said here on Tuesday that his office had appointed 18
prosecutors to the trial, which would open next week at the
latest.
"We will use Articles 13 and 15 of the Government Regulation
in Lieu of Law No. 1/2000 and Articles 106 and 107 on subversion
from the Criminal Code, which carry a maximum death sentence, to
prosecute the suspects. We have yet to decide upon the sentence
we will be seeking, because we are still studying their
dossiers," he said.
The five ex-negotiators -- Teungku Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba,
Teuku Kamaruzzaman, Teungku Nashiruddin bin Ahmed, Teungku
Muhamad Usman and Teungku Amni Marzuki -- were arrested only
hours after the government imposed martial law and launched its
military operation to crush the separatist movement on May 19.
The five were arrested at Sultan Iskandar Muda Blang Bintang
airport in Banda Aceh as they were trying to escape overseas.
Sofyan Tiba, along with the four other ex-negotiators, were
held at the provincial police jail for security reasons. The five
said they were in good health and that they were accompanied by a
legal team from the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Institute (YLBHI) during police interrogation.
Zainal explained that the five were allegedly involved in
provoking rebels to carry out terrorism and violence to topple
the Jakarta government, and that they were allegedly involved in
the series of bomb attacks this year in Aceh, the North Sumatra
capital of Medan and Jakarta.
"Their cases are based on material evidence such as photos,
GAM badges and many confidential documents confiscated from the
suspects," he said.
The police submitted on Tuesday the case files of the five,
along with 23 others', to prosecutors.
Spokesman for Aceh Provincial Police Sr. Comr. Sayed Husaini
said the 23 were from a total of 41 suspected rebels the police
had interrogated, and would stand trial soon.
He said that the police had so far arrested 249 suspected
rebels, including 14 handed over by the military and 19 others
who voluntarily surrendered to the police.
"All of them will be brought to court," he said, adding that
the military was still interrogating hundreds of rebels,
including 99 in the provincial capital.
The legal process is part of the military offensive to crush
the Acehnese separatist movement that was launched in response to
"past injustice and human right abuses" by Jakarta in the
resource-rich province.
Unlike previous days, no casualties were reported on Tuesday,
but the military operation headquarters said that a group of
soldiers and police personnel had shot dead seven rebels and
confiscated seven rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition on
Monday in a single skirmish in Jamur Pulung village, Gayo Luwes
regency.
Lt. Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki, spokesman for the military
operation in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, said the firefight occurred
after rebels burned on Sunday seven Mitsubishi L-300 vans and a
truck in the village. Three civilians were killed in the
incident.
"The firefight happened during an attempt to hunt down the
rebels who torched the vans and killed the three civilians," he
said.
The rebels' bodies were handed over to local residents for
burial.
In other developments, more than 10,000 residents of Aceh
Besar regency swore loyalty to the government, while more than
42,000 Acehnese people from refugee camps across the province
were allowed to go back home after their home villages were
declared safe.
Speaking on Tuesday at a simple ceremony in Lambaro, Aceh
Besar regent Sayuti Is strongly urged villagers to help maintain
security in their villages so that development programs could
proceed.
"We should never be afraid of the armed rebellion or driving
the rebels away, because we are with security personnel," he said
at the ceremony attended by local police and military officials.
Chief of the local social affairs office Burhanuddin said that
almost 43,000 from more than 85 camps in the province had
returned to their homes because of the improved security
situation.
He said the refugees had been trained in agriculture and
farming and given financial aid so that they could resume their
daily activities to improve their welfare.
The remaining refugees in Bireuen number only 2,000, as 18,000
people had returned home, and the majority of 14,000 refugees in
South Aceh had also gone home.
Burhanuddin said more than 5,000 refugees in East Aceh were
still occupying emergency tents near police and military offices
in the regency, because of the frequent clashes between rebels
and security personnel over the last two weeks.