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.