JSX bomb trial commences
JAKARTA (JP): The trial of last year's bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building, which claimed 10 lives, began on Monday at the South Jakarta District Court.
While many had suspected that political motives were behind the bombing, prosecutor Endang Rachwan told the court that Tengku Ismuhadi Jafar, 30, the owner of Krung Baro auto repair shop in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, and his employee, Nuryadin alias Nadin, 29, bombed the building on Sept. 13, 2000, "to increase the dollar rate" against the rupiah.
Before exploding the bomb, Jafar had bought dollars worth Rp 176 million, the prosecutor said.
At that time, the selling rate for dollars was less than 9,000, while today it is almost Rp 11,000.
The two defendants were accused of violating Article 1 paragraph 1 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951 for possessing and using ammunition or explosive material.
The crime carries a maximum penalty of death and a minimum 20- year jail term.
The two defendants allegedly committed the crimes along with Ibrahim Amd, who escaped from jail in February; member of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Chief Corp. Ibrahim Hasan and member of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) Chief Sgt. Irwan, who will be tried separately; as well as Sayed Mustofa, Tengku Rayang Rayang and Zulkifli, who are still at large, according to the indictment.
The defendants had appointed a team of 10 lawyers from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), including Luhut Pangaribuan, who is also President Abdurrahman Wahid's lawyer.
The prosecutor said that the defendants met on Sept. 8, 2000, to make a plan to blow up the JSX building on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.
"In the meeting, it was discussed that the building would be bombed on Sept. 13, 2000, one day before former president Soeharto was scheduled to stand trial, so that people would suspect that the bombers were Soeharto's people," the prosecutor said.
The bomb assembled by Irwan and Ibrahim was made of 49 TNT bars and was put into the trunk of a Toyota Mark II, the prosecutor said.
On the designated day, at about 1 p.m. Irwan drove the car to the JSX building and called Jafar that he was on the way. Jafar and Ibrahim, who had expected their call, immediately went to BNI 46 bank in Pasar Minggu to withdraw cash amounting to Rp 175 million, and then exchanged it into dollars at the Bank Central Asia in Cilandak.
Meanwhile Irwan parked the car at the basement of JSX, set the timer, and then left for Plaza Senayan, where Jafar and Ibrahim were waiting.
The bomb exploded at 3:20 p.m., killing 10 people, injuring 46 others, damaging 179 cars, and destroying parts of the building.
The incident was among a series of bombings which shocked the country last year, including the explosions at the Malaysian and Philippine embassies in Jakarta, and the Christmas bombings in the capital and several other towns. All incidents remain a mystery.
In the JSX building bombing, the police once connected the case with the separatist Free Aceh Movement as most suspects were Acehnese.
Prosecutor Rachwan, however, mentioned nothing about the separatist movement.
Defendant Nuryadin said after the trial, presided over by judge Rusmandani Ahmad that the whole thing was construed by investigators.
The trial will resume next Monday.
Meanwhile, the second session on Monday, in which Ibrahim and Irwan were supposed to be tried, was adjourned for a week as Irwan and the suspects' lawyers did not show up.
According to prosecutor Soejitno, Irwan refused to attend the trial because the situation in Cipinang Penitentiary has not been normal since last month's riot.
"We just found out about his refusal, so we were unable to anticipate it," he said, adding that they will force Irwan to attend the trial next week if he still refuses.
Irwan's lawyer, Jonson Panjaitan, said he had not received the summons.(hdn)