Four students named terror suspects

Four students named terror suspects

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Four of the six students recently deported from Pakistan have
been declared suspects for their roles in a series of terrorist
attacks here in the past several years.

"We have declared Mohammad Syaifudin, Ilham Sofandi, Furqon
Abdullah and Rusman Gunawan as suspects as of 8 p.m. today
because we have sufficient evidence to link them with terror
activities in this country," deputy chief of Police Public
Relations Division Brig. Gen. Soenarko said last night.

Two others, David Pintarto and Muhammad Anwar As-Shaddaqi,
were released on Tuesday due to lack of evidence linking them
with any crimes here. David and Anwar were deported from Pakistan
for visa violations. The six arrived from Pakistan on Dec. 11.

Soenarko said new warrants of arrest had been issued to enable
police to detain the four longer.

"The warrants have been signed by investigators and sent to
their families. They can be accompanied by lawyers during the
interrogation as the charges they are faced with have a sentence
that exceeds 15 years in jail if found guilty," he said.

Soenarko did not reveal which terror incidents the four
students were allegedly involved in.

Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Thursday morning that
intelligence reports indicated that the four students had links
to Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali, the alleged leader of Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asia terrorist network. Rusman
Gunawan is the brother of Hambali.

"Many intelligence reports confirm that they have links with
(the crimes alleged to be committed by) Hambali. These reports
have been processed by police and will be used as evidence
against the students," said Da'i.

JI is linked to al-Qaeda and has been 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.

Hambali is in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location
following his capture in Thailand in August.

Da'i said that in order for the reports to be legally
admissible, according to law No. 15/1005 on terrorism, the
reports should be approved by the local court.

"We have submitted the reports to the local court and we will
wait for approval. Meanwhile, we are processing all the evidence
available," said Da'i.

Under the Law No. 15/2003, police have the right to detain
terror suspects for up to seven days. According to police, they
can hold terror suspects without a warrant and question them
without a lawyer present.

Da'i also said that the students had been in contact with
other suspected terrorists, including Ismail and Tohir. Both are
key suspects in the JW Marriott attacks. Other suspects,
including Azahari and Noordin Mohamad Top, are still at large.

Gunawan admitted to having sent US$50,000 and
telecommunications device to his brother Hambali.