Police name 5 Acehnese as bomb suspects

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The City Police named on Sunday five suspects in the blast that rocked the Graha Cijantung Mall in East Jakarta and called them "terrorists", who were also believed to be involved in the recent bombs that exploded in front of a discotheque and at the parking lot of a hotel in Central Jakarta.

"They are categorized as terrorists," Snr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam told reporters during a press conference at the police headquarters.

The evidence found by the police indicated that the explosions were related to each other, he said.

Eight people were injured in the blast at the Cijantung Mall, while the bomb that went off in front of the Eksotik discotheque on June 9 seriously wounded two people. At about the same time on June 9, another explosion rocked the parking lot of the Jayakarta Tower hotel, and two bombs that were not exploded were found in the parking lot of Sarinah department store in Central Jakarta, and in front of Hayam Wuruk Plaza.

The police announced on Saturday that they had arrested six people and discovered explosives in three different houses located just outside the city limits, in Cimanggis, Depok; in Cibinong, Bogor; and in Bintaro, Tangerang. The biggest discovery was in Kampung Kebayuran, Depok, where the police found several grenades, homemade bombs, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, 160 magazines, several detonators, a pack of marijuana, Rp 50 million (US$5,555) in cash and some military-like uniforms.

Anton denied the military's involvement, saying that such uniforms are available on the open market.

He also said the police were not certain if the five suspects, who are all from Aceh, were related to the Free Aceh Movement.

The police, however, believed the activities were funded by the sale of marijuana, which is cultivated extensively in Aceh.

The five suspects are all being held in custody at the police headquarters, while another person, not considered a suspect, had been released.

They are charged with the Emergency Law No.12/1951, which carries a maximum sentence of the death penalty.

They were identified as Atom, Sahrul, Bambang alias Adi, Muda Ali and Hasan alias Nyak Mad. The one that was released was Laluk bin Kodin, who works as a driver for Bambang's wife.

Six other suspects are still wanted by the police. One of them is Jalaludin alias Jalil, who is believed to be the owner of the explosives and the ammunition that were found by the police.

The police officers have appointed lawyer Farhat Abbas to provide the five suspects with legal assistance.

Farhat told reporters that he received the police request on Saturday night. He said that he had agreed, but it would also depend on the suspects, as they had the right to chose their own lawyers.