Police told to get sharp with terrorism cases

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Wahyoe Boediwardana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Denpasar

The rejection of the dossiers of the Bali bombing suspects showed that the Indonesian police lack professionalism in dealing with the terrorist attacks, observers say.

Legal experts T. Gayus Lumbuun, head of research and development of the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin), and Topo Santoso of the University of Indonesia said on Friday that the returning of suspects' dossiers reflected the police's carelessness in handling the high-profile terrorism case.

"Police must be very diligent in filing the dossiers of suspects in such a big terrorist case, even if it is the first time police are dealing with terrorism," Gayus told The Jakarta Post.

Topo said police had likely been too focused on the dossier of Amrozi, the first Bali bombing suspect to be arrested, and paid less attention to the remaining suspects, who were arrested subsequently.

Last Thursday, the Bali Prosecutor's Office returned to police the dossier of Abdul Azis, alias Imam Samudra, the alleged mastermind behind the Bali attacks, due to a lack of evidence.

Head of the Bali Prosecutor's Office I Ketut Yona said on Thursday that the dossiers of the 13 other suspects would also be returned to police for revisions.

Earlier, the office had rejected the case file of key suspect Amrozi and returned it to police for more evidence. The police refiled the dossier, which was declared complete last Thursday, and expect the case would soon go to court.

Prosecutors said on Friday that several evidence reports in Samudra's dossier required legalization from relevant authorities, while in the dossiers of the 13 other suspects, the police needed to revise witnesses' statements in order to build a strong against the suspects.

"The charges of the 13 suspects are different from those of Amrozi and Imam Samudra, who were charged with masterminding the Bali bombing.

"Therefore, the witnesses' statements regarding them should not be similar to those on Amrozi or Samudra," said Assistant for General Crimes Division at the Bali Prosecutor's Office I Ketut Ardhana.

The returning of dossiers from the prosecutor's office to the police is permitted by law.

Gayus said police must work harder to fulfill any demands from the prosecutor's office, otherwise the charges against the suspects would weaken.

"But if the police fail to realize the demand, the dossiers must be returned to the prosecutor's office. The latter must then fill in the dossier's shortcomings and submit it to court," he said.

Gayus suggested that police set up a special team that was skilled and knowledgeable in dealing with terrorism to prepare the dossiers.

Topo, on the other hand, said police and prosecutors must intensify discussions among them in order to establish a common understanding about the returned dossiers.

Police must also include top legal experts who clearly understood the details necessary in the dossiers' contents to fortify the charges against the suspects, he added.