Lawyers to sue police over Ba'asyir's abrupt arrest

Lawyers to sue police over Ba'asyir's abrupt arrest

P.C. Naommy and Blontank Poer, Jakarta/Surakarta

The team of lawyers for Abu Bakar Ba'asyir announced on Monday
they would file a pretrial motion against the National Police for
procedural violations in connection with their client's arrest
last Friday.

"We are currently preparing the material, but soon, in two
days at the latest, we will file our motion pertaining to the
cleric's arrest in the district court," said Muhammad Ali, one of
Ba'asyir's lawyers.

According to article 79 of the Criminal Law Procedures Code, a
suspect, or his/her family, or his/her lawyer can file a motion
with the district court to review the validity of an arrest or
detention, stating the reasons for the review.

The head of Ba'asyir's team of lawyers, Mohammad Assegaff,
said the police had not served the arrest warrant on their client
until he had been taken into custody and placed in the police
van.

Citing an article from the Criminal Law Procedures Code,
Assegaff said the police should have notified the accused or his
legal representatives of his impending arrest at least three days
before being taken into custody.

"The police should, at least, have informed the warden of
Salemba Penitentiary of their plan to rearrest Uztad Abu. We need
such a notice to be able to prepare ourselves," said Assegaff.

He added that during the pretrial hearing, the lawyers would
also demand that the police show them the prima facie evidence
that they were using as the basis for the filing of new charges
and the rearrest of the cleric.

In response to the lawyers' plan, Director Six of the National
Police Antiterrorist and Bomb Division Brig. Gen. Pranowo said
the police were ready to respond to the motion.

"We don't have to give a notice before arresting a suspect. If
we did, the suspect could abscond before we had time to arrest
him," said Pranowo.

He also said the police had already explained the six to eight
procedural steps they had used in handling the Ba'asyir case to
the cleric's team of lawyers.

The cleric's rearrest on Friday after serving 18 months in
jail for immigration and document forgery offenses triggered a
series of violent protests by Ba'asyir's supporters in different
parts of the country over the weekend.

On Saturday, a protest over the cleric's arrest on the
Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) campus in Makassar degenerated
into a riot in which at least 61 students were seriously injured.

On Sunday, a group calling itself the Surakarta Muslim Youth
Alliance demonstrated in front of the Surakarta central police
station against Ba'asyir's arrest and the action taken against
the students in Makassar.

The leader of the group, Kholid Syaifullah, held a press
conference on Monday to express their apologies to the police and
the families of two civilian victims who were injured in the
protest.

During the rally, hundreds of enraged protesters damaged the
fence of the police station and hit the Surakarta Police chief
Adj. Sr. Comr. Lutfi Lubihanto in the back. Two civilians leaving
the police station were beaten, one of whom, Lukman, was knocked
unconscious.

Assegaff said his lawyers would bring the Ba'asyir case and
the violence that occurred in Makassar to the House of
Representatives' Commission II for legal and home affairs on
Tuesday.