Govt confirms terrorist-suspect Taufik is an Indonesian
Govt confirms terrorist-suspect Taufik is an Indonesian
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
The mystery about the citizenship of detained terrorist suspect
Taufik Rifki has been uncovered after Indonesian diplomats met
with the detainee at Aquinaldo Camp in Quezon City, Manila,
Philippines on Thursday.
Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Marty Natalegawa
said on Friday that Taufik, arrested in Southern Philippines
early October, was Indonesian-born but fell short of saying that
he was an Indonesian citizen.
"There are no legal documents to prove his citizenship, but we
agree that he is an Indonesian and will provide legal assistance
for him," Marty said.
Earlier, Marty expressed regret over the decision of the
Philippines to name Taufik as an Indonesian without sufficient
data to back its claim.
The conclusion, according to Marty, was reached after
Indonesian diplomats in Manila interviewed Taufik, who entered
the Philippines illegally in August 1998.
He also said that Taufik had been told not to sign any legal
documents from the Philippine authorities without the presence of
defense lawyers.
The government was still trying to provide a lawyer for
Taufik, to help him through the legal proceedings, Marty said.
"However, this does not mean that we want to interfere with
the ongoing legal proceedings, we will only fulfill our
obligation to provide assistance for him as our citizen," he
said.
He underlined that the assistance was aimed at ensuring that
Taufik received proper treatment during the interrogation.
"With the confession and other proof, there are indications
that he may have involved in actions that violate the Philippine
law," Marty said.
Indonesian Consulate staff managed to meet Taufik on Thursday
for more than three hours at the Philippine armed forces
intelligence office.
In the interview, Taufik told the consulate staff that he was
a member of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and served as treasurer of one
of the network's cells.
Born in Surakarta, Central Java in Aug. 9, 1974, Taufik along
with nine other Indonesians entered the Philippines illegally in
August 1998 and met with another seven Indonesians in Cotabato
City.
Taufik confessed that the journey was organized by an
Indonesian from Surabaya. Unconfirmed reports said that they were
recruited by an Indonesian, known as a JI leader in East Java.
The group then went to Udaydiyyah camp, around three-hours
drive from Cotabato, to join military training.
"This was full military training, where they were trained to
assemble and use explosives, use heavy arms, read maps and other
training," Marty said.
Taufik said that there were around 30 Indonesians in the camp
including him and those who traveled with him.
"He said the late Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi was one of the
instructors in the training site," Marty said, referring to
another convicted Indonesian terrorist who was shot dead in an
armed encounter in the Philippines.
Al-Ghozi was sentenced to 17 years in prison by a district
court in Manila for illegally possessing explosive material. He
escaped from prison early this year and was shot dead after a
long manhunt.
Marty said that in the interview, Taufik mentioned the names
of nine others traveling with him from Surabaya to the
Philippines in 1998.
Based on Taufik's confession, Indonesian and Philippine
authorities are currently tracking down the other Indonesians who
joined the military training.
"We still do not know whether these people have already
returned to Indonesia, remained in the Philippines or moved to
another country," he said.