Poso attackers face stiff charges

Damar Harsanto and Erik W., The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police said on Friday that 15 suspects being held for their alleged roles in a series of renewed attacks in Poso and neighboring Morowali regency, Central Sulawesi, would be charged under Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism.

Under the Antiterrorism Law passed after the Bali bombings in Oct. 2002, the detained assailants could face the death penalty if found guilty.

It will be the first time the law has been applied to a crime other than bombings.

"Although the form of violence was similar to that during the past conflict, their (the suspects) actions could be categorized as terrorist acts," National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said.

For that reason, they will be charged under the antiterrorism law, he said.

Da'i, however, fell short of detailing why the police considered the fresh violence an act of terror.

He merely explained that the assailants trained before perpetrating the attacks.

"Before launching the attacks, someone summoned them (accomplices) and provided them with weapons. The purpose of the training was (to prepare) for the attacks," he said.

Da'i said the suspects stated that the ammunition and firearms they used in the attacks had been smuggled in from the southern Philippines, where rebels have been fighting for independence.

Echoing Da'i's statement, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Basyir Barmawi said the munitions were smuggled in from the southern Philippines because of their lower prices.

"The prices (of bullets and firearms) in the southern Philippines can be one third of the prices here," he told a media briefing at the National Police Headquarters, Jakarta.

Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sugianto confirmed that the 15 detainees would be charged with violating articles 6 and 7 of Law No. 15/2003.

The suspects will also be charged with breaching Law No. 12/1951 on the use of firearms, and articles of the Criminal Code on murder with a firearm, he added.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Hermansyah, detective chief of the Central Sulawesi Police, said his personnel had seized seven automatic weapons, including two 45-caliber FN pistols, one M-16 gun and one AK-47, from the detainees.

At least 500 bullets and four magazines were also confiscated as evidence, he added.

At least 10 people, mostly Christians, were killed when masked gunmen launched predawn raids on three coastal villages in Poso on Oct. 12.

Two days earlier, similar assailants killed three people and burned down about 30 houses and a church in Beteleme village, Lembo subdistrict, Morowali regency.

The attacks were fueled by vengeance stemming from the earlier conflicts, investigators quoted the suspects as saying.

In the intensive hunt for the attackers, a joint police and military force shot dead six suspects in a Morowali forest and captured 15 others.

Muhammadong, alias Madong, the alleged planner of the attacks, was shot dead last week in a gunfight.

Three of the 15 detainees -- Ardianto, alias Ole; Ishak, alias Jeki; and Abid, alias David -- were hospitalized with bullet wounds.

The remaining 12 currently being interrogated are Hasyim; Hamdan; Safry, alias Aco; Arman; Abbas; Abdul Haer; Andang; Hendra Yadi; Suhardi; Rahmat Jeba; and Tepang.

Hasyim, from Ampana subdistrict, claimed he had been asked by Madong to undergo training in self-defense with school children in Poso.

However, he was taken with the other suspects into a forest for one month of target practice, Hasyim said, adding that Madong later provided him with weapons to attack locals.

Madong and two other suspects -- Rahmat Jeba and Aco -- had long been wanted by the police for their alleged involvement in previous crimes in Poso, Agus said.

The police said most of the suspects were Poso natives, but at least two were originally from Lamongan regency in East Java, the hometown of convicted Bali bombers Amrozi, Ali Imron and Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas.

The Bali blasts and other bombings in the country have been blamed on the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional extremist network that authorities say has ties to al-Qaeda.

A report by the International Crisis Group of political analysts says that JI considers Poso a potential training ground.

The recent killings raised fears of a return to the Muslim- Christian fighting, which first broke out in early 2000 and claimed the lives of about 2,000 people in Poso over two years.

The government brokered a peace deal in December 2001, but sporadic violence continued.