Police charge 11 suspects with terror activities

Police charge 11 suspects with terror activities

Eva C. Komandjaja and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Surakarta

The National Police announced on Tuesday that 11 out of 17
alleged terrorists arrested last week had been officially charged
as suspects in relation to a string of terror activities around the
country, including the deadly bomb blast in front of the
Australian Embassy in Jakarta last year.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko D.A. told
reporters that the suspects, who were apprehended in Central Java
and Jakarta, would be charged under the Antiterrorism Law (No.
15/2003), which carries a maximum penalty of death.

Nine of the 11 were apprehended in Surakarta and neighboring
Wonogiri in Central Java, while the other two were arrested in
Jakarta.

"We have issued arrest warrants and they have been detained,"
Soenarko said.

Soenarko refused to divulge the full names of the suspects,
giving only their initials and their alleged roles in terrorist
activities.

The first two suspects, who were captured in Jakarta, were
identified as IH and EK.

They allegedly provided the detonating leads and TNT
(trinitrotoluene) for the bomb attack in front of the Australian
Embassy in September 2004, which killed 10, including the suicide
bomber, and injured some 180 people.

Three other suspects were held in Central Java -- UP, DC and
JT -- on charges of harboring two Malaysian fugitives, Azahari
bin Husin and Noordin Mohd. Top as well as supplying materials
for a series of bomb attacks around the country. The two
Malaysians are the reputed top leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah, a
regional terror group linked to Al Qaeda.

Four suspects -- JT, JS, MI and HS -- were charged with aiding
and abetting terrorists, including providing transportation and
financing.

Soenarko also revealed that the last two suspects, HM and FP,
were suspects in the murder of prosecutor Ferry Silalahi last
year in conflict-prone Palu, Central Sulawesi. Ferry was shot
dead in his car after leaving a house where he had attended an
evening religious service.

"As for the other six people that haven't been declared
suspects yet, they are still being interrogated," Soenarko said.

Police have arrested scores of terrorists linked to the
bombing incidents in Bali in 2002, the JW Marriott Hotel in
Jakarta in 2003, and the Australian Embassy in 2004. Three men
have been sentenced to death in relation to the Bali attacks.

While most of those arrested have been found guilty by the
courts, many have claimed to be innocent.

Meanwhile, a family member of one of the recently arrested
terrorist suspects said that his brother, Joko Tri Purwanto (one
of the two JTs identified by the police), was apprehended last
week after his wife delivered their third child at a Surakarta
hospital in Central Java.

According to Eko, Joko's elder brother, the latter had no
criminal record and was not involved in terrorism. "In fact, he
never leaves home for more than 24 hours," Eko told The Jakarta
Post on Tuesday.

He said that the 34-year-old Joko looked after his two cell
phone shops in Surakarta, working from 9 a.m until nine in the
evening. "Even if he had to go out, it would only be to look for
used cell phones to be sold in his shops."

Eko said he was upset by how the police had handle the case,
claiming that the police did not produce a warrant when arresting
his brother.

He said that when Joko was arrested, he was carrying some Rp 7
million (US$737) in cash, which he intended to use to pay the
hospital bills of his wife. He feared that the police would
claim that the money was to be used to help finance terrorism.