Govt urged to help terror suspect

Govt urged to help terror suspect

JAKARTA: Hundreds of students and Muslim youths staged a
demonstration in front of the South Sulawesi provincial
legislature building, demanding the government to take concrete
action to help release Agus Dwikarna who has been arrested in the
Philippines for what they claimed were groundless charges.

The demonstrators said they were disappointed with President
Megawati Soekarnoputri for taking no action to free Agus who they
said had no faults but was arrested by Philippine authorities.

They demanded that the government freeze Indonesian ties with
the Philippines if Agus was punished by the Philippine court on
July 12, 2002.

The also called on South Sulawesi Governor HZB Palaguna and
the provincial legislature leadership to leave for Manila to
lobby the Philippine government to show that they were committed
to providing protection for the Indonesian citizen.

Agus along with other two Indonesians were arrested in the
Philippines in March for the illegal possession of explosive
materials as they were boarding a flight and for not having
proper immigration documents. Agus' two colleagues have already
been released while Agus is also facing charges of alleged
involvement in the bombing of the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta
last year. --JP