Prosecutors given police guard
Abdul Khalik and Ruslan Sangadji, Jakarta/Palu
Prosecutors and judges in conflict areas have been provided police protection following Wednesday's murder of prosecutor Ferry Silalahi in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said all Palu prosecutors were being provided individual guard by police officers and that prosecutors and judges in other conflict areas would receive similar security.
"Ferry's murder proves that prosecutors and judges are in danger. After discussing the matter with the head of the Central Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office, we decided to guard all prosecutors there individually," he said on Friday.
He said police protection would be removed after Ferry's murder was solved.
Police protection in other conflict areas will be given particularly to those prosecutors and judges who are currently handling cases that could endanger their lives, he said.
Police are deploying two-thirds of its 250,000-strong force to maintain security prior to the presidential election campaign period which begins on June 1.
The provinces of Aceh and Papua, where separatist movements have long been active, and Central Sulawesi capital Poso and Ambon in Maluku, which have seen a recent resurgence of sectarian violence, have been declared the most watched areas.
Palu is four hours' drive from Poso.
Da'i declined to speculated on a possible motive behind Ferry's murder, saying the case was being investigated.
Meanwhile, Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha said several witnesses had been questioned and evidence collected, but declined to release the identity of suspects in order not to undermine the investigation.
Palu prosecutor Firdaus Jahja told The Jakarta Post in Palu that immediately after the attack on Ferry, he and fellow prosecutors received 24-hour guard by fully-armed police personnel.
"Our house has been guarded by a group of policemen day and night for the last two days. We are also guarded wherever we go," he said.
Firdaus also said he had received several death threats via messages and calls on his phone. The mobile phone number from which the threats originated was a Jakarta number.
Ferry, 46, was shot dead at around 10:15 p.m. on Wednesday in his car outside the residence of lawyer Thomas D. Ihalaw on Jl. Swadaya in Tana Modindi neighborhood, South Palu, just after attending an evening Mass.
His body was flown into Jakarta on Friday for burial.
Ferry handled various corruption and terrorism cases, including a recent case against suspected Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) members Muhammad Fauzan, Nizam, Firmansyah, Fajri and Aang Hasanuddin.
The five were tried for illegal possession of arms, munitions and explosives and for abetting and aiding Bali bombing suspect Achmad Roichan, alias Nung.
The JI regional terror network is believed to have masterminded the October 2002 Bali bombings that claimed 202 lives, and the August 2003 JW Marriott Hotel blast in Jakarta that killed 12 people, including the suspected suicide bomber.