Hamzah Haz visits Ja'far in police cell

Hamzah Haz visits Ja'far in police cell

Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The pressure on the police rose to dizzying heights on Tuesday
when Vice President Hamzah Haz visited the detained commander of
the Laskar Jihad Muslim group, Ja'far Umar Thalib, in his cell at
the National Police Headquarters.

Hamzah reportedly conveyed his sympathies to Ja'far as "one
Muslim to another". The Laskar Jihad commander was arrested on
May 4 at Surabaya's Juanda Airport on charges linked to the Soya
attack in Ambon, Maluku on April 28, which resulted in at least
12 deaths. He has also been charged with insulting President
Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Hamzah, who is also the chairman of the country's third
largest political party, the United Development Party (PPP), was
not the first prominent visitor received by Ja'far, who also
received visits by a number of other Muslim social and political
leaders. These visits have some parties concerned that political
pressure could lead to Ja'far's release.

"We Muslims are brothers. There's nothing wrong with visiting
someone in trouble and offering sympathy," Hamzah said. "The
government has no intention of intervening. The police had
concrete evidence to arrest Ja'far."

The Laskar Jihad, along with another militia group, Laskar
Mujahidin, has been accused of spreading anti-Christian
sentiments and provoking religious violence across Maluku, where
over 6,000 people have died during several years of communal
violence.

An official with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan), Arifin Panigoro, questioned Hamzah's visit of
Ja'far on Tuesday.

"This visit will invite discussion since Hamzah is Vice
President. PDI Perjuangan is waiting for an explanation of the
purpose of the visit," Arifin said following a party meeting led
by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is also the PDI
Perjuangan chairwoman.

Prior to Hamzah's arrival at the National Police Headquarters,
leaders from a splinter faction of the United Development Party,
PPP Reformasi, visited Ja'far and offered him their sympathy.

After meeting with Ja'far, the chairman of PPP Reformasi,
noted Muslim preacher Zainuddin M.Z., said Ja'far had done a "lot
of good" for Muslims in South Maluku.

"The people of Maluku were already angry about the South
Maluku Republic (RMS) separatist rebels with their RMS flags.
Whether Ja'far made that speech or not (which allegedly incited
the attack on Soya village), it would not have made a
difference," Zainuddin said.

"Political nuances are stronger than matters of the law. We
should always go with the presumption of innocence," he said.

Police moved to arrest Ja'far following a report by Maluku
Police chief Brig. Gen. Soenarko Danu Ardianto. In his report,
Soenarko said Ja'far told an audience of people at the Al-Fatah
Mosque on April 26 to "prepare their bombs and ammunition, and
fire them at the enemy in the name of Allah the Great".

Ahmad Sumargono of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), who also
visited Ja'far on Tuesday, said the House of Representatives was
considering calling National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar to
explain Ja'far's arrest.

On May 4 of last year, Ja'far was arrested at Juanda Airport
and charged with being responsible for the stoning death of one
of his followers. Though the murder charge has never been
dropped, under the threat of rioting the police released Ja'far
from custody on May 15 and placed him under house arrest, from
which he was released on June 12.

The chief detective of the National Police's general crimes
division, Brig. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi, said on Tuesday the police
were pressured to release Ja'far last year, and hoped that this
time detectives would "not be pressured continuously" to release
him, whether by politicians or by his paramilitary group.

"It is no joke arresting this man. We had to collect solid
evidence before we made this arrest ... I hope nothing gets in
the way of our investigation of this case," Aryanto told The
Jakarta Post.

Ja'far's lawyers are scheduled to file a lawsuit on Wednesday
at the South Jakarta District Court against National Police chief
Gen. Da'i Bachtiar for "wrongful arrest".