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)