Malaysian court orders release of militant suspect

Malaysian court orders release of militant suspect

Jasbant Singh, Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur

A Malaysian judge on Friday ordered the government to release an
alleged member of the Islamic extremist group suspected in a
series of deadly bomb attacks in Southeast Asia, his lawyer and a
court official said.

High Court Judge Suriyadi Halim Omar said police had failed to
produce evidence to back allegations that Nasharuddin Nasir was a
member of Jamaah Islamiyah, said Nasharuddin's lawyer, Sivarasa
Rasiah.

Jamaah Islamiyah, which officials allege has ties to the al-
Qaeda terrorist network, has emerged as the chief suspect in the
Oct. 12 blasts on Indonesia's Bali island that killed more than
190 people. Its operatives are also blamed for other recent
attacks and plots in the region.

Suriyadi quashed Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's order
jailing Nasharuddin without trial for two years because it was
based on the police claims, Sivarasa said.

"The judge has ordered the release, as he found no evidence to
support the various allegations made by police," Sivarasa told
The Associated Press. "As such, the judge also ruled the
minister's order is equally tainted as it is based on police
investigations."

The allegations, set out in the detention order, say
Nasharuddin joined Jamaah Islamiyah in 1996 and was elected a
district leader in 1999. He collected donations and recruited new
members in support of the group's goal of creating a pan-Islamic
state comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the southern
Philippines, the document alleges.

The document, a copy of which the AP obtained on Friday, says
Nasharuddin attended two military training sessions in Malaysia
run by two Indonesians, and sent money to a Muslim separatist
group in the Philippines and Islamic militants fighting
Christians on Indonesia's Ambon island.

A court official, speaking on customary condition of
anonymity, confirmed the judge's order, but could not give
details.

It was not immediately clear when Nasharuddin would be
released. He is being held at a prison camp 250 kilometers north
of Kuala Lumpur and was not at Friday's court hearing at Shah
Alam, near Malaysia's largest city. The court official said the
decision was being faxed to the prison farm.

Rohaizad Rahim, a spokesman for Abdullah, said the government
would respect the court's decision, although the attorney general
would consider whether to appeal the ruling.

"Our crackdown on suspected Islamic militants will continue
and preventive laws will be used when necessary," he said.

Nasharuddin is one of 14 people arrested in April under
Malaysia's Internal Security Act - which allows indefinite
detention without trial - for alleged connections to extremist
groups. More than 70 suspected militants have been arrested under
the law since mid-2001. Most are accused of belonging to Jamaah
Islamiyah.

Arrested at the same time as Nasharuddin was Sejahratul
Dursina, the wife of Yazid Sufaat, a former Malaysian army
captain who has been jailed without trial since December on
accusations he let al-Qaeda members stay in an apartment the
couple own near Kuala Lumpur. The guests included two Sept. 11
hijackers, officials allege.

Sejahratul was released after almost 60 days in police custody
on certain travel and other conditions.

Nasharuddin launched a legal challenge to his arrest and
detention, demanding that he be released if prosecutors did not
bring him to court and produce evidence backing their
allegations.