Police arrest of Laskar Jihad chief unlawful: Court

Police arrest of Laskar Jihad chief unlawful: Court

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court ruled on Monday
that the police arrest of Laskar Jihad Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammaah
commander Ja'far Umar Thalib was unlawful, but this should not
affect the suspect's detention.

In the decision, Judge Syamsul Ali considered that the arrest
and the detention were two different subjects.

"The police warrant to arrest the plaintiff is unlawful... the
detention itself is lawful because although arrest and detention
are both parts of the investigation, they are two different
things," he told the court.

The judge found that the police arrest warrant presented to
Ja'far was in the form of a facsimile and that the legal basis of
the arrest, the Criminal Procedures Code (KUHAP), was mistakenly
typed as the Criminal Code (KUHP).

"An arrest using a faxed warrant has yet to be assessed for
its validity and there has been no precedent for that, so it's
unlawful," the judge said.

The judge also rejected the police argument that the mistyping
was merely an error.

"The National Police as the investigator should be more
careful in issuing arrest warrants," he said.

The judge also stated that the arrest warrant had not been
issued in accordance with the procedures as its carbon copy had
not been submitted to the plaintiff's family.

Judge Syamsul ordered the National Police to pay Rp 1 million
in compensation to the plaintiff.

Lawyer Wirawan Adnan said the decision was satisfactory and
the judge's consideration was correct.

However, his colleague, Eggy Sudjana, who led the litigation
team, said that he would file an objection with the court over
the decision.

"This is an ambivalent decision. Logically, if the arrest has
been declared unlawful then the detention was also unlawful. I
think ustad (Muslim scholar) Ja'far should be released," he told
journalists.

Police lawyer Sr. Comr. Soeyitno deplored the judge's decision
ordering the police to pay the compensation. He said that
compensation could only be paid if the court had ruled that the
investigation into the case could not be continued.

Ja'far was arrested on May 4 at Juanda Airport in the East
Java provincial capital of Surabaya as a suspect who had
allegedly incited religious hostility and ordered the murder of
Abdullah, one of his followers. The man was stoned to death in
Maluku for adultery earlier this year.

Ja'far was released from detention on May 15 and was put under
house arrest at that time.

Separately, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi
said that the police would definitely follow the South Jakarta
District Court ruling.

"Our arrest warrant had a typing error. We admit our mistake.
In any case, the National Police will not release Ja'far Umar
Thalib... we are only proceeding in accordance with what the
South Jakarta District Court ruled," Didi told The Jakarta Post
at the National Police Headquarters.

Earlier on Monday, Hidayatullah Muslim magazine presented
Abdullah's family with the Syariah Award because Abdullah had
admitted his guilt and had asked to be stoned to death. (bby/ylt)