Relatives of detained activists told to sue police

Relatives of detained activists told to sue police

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra urged
the wives and relatives of Muslim activists in detention to file
lawsuits against the police if they think there is sufficient
evidence that the arrests violated any legal procedures.

He stressed that any arrest of a suspected terrorist could be
made in line with the country's Criminal Code, not necessarily
the Antiterrorism Law.

"I admit that currently, controversies have been swirling
about among the people on what exactly happened, even though
Police Chief (Gen. Da'i Bachtiar) has already explained that the
police did arrest the activists, and did not kidnap them.

"But, maybe the police failed to make a public explanation on
the arrest and it later created a misunderstanding among
relatives of those activists who claimed that their family
members had been kidnapped," Yusril explained.

"I don't exactly understand what has been going on...whether
or not the arrests have been done without warrants. But I agree
with Chief Da'i that the wives and relatives of those activists
can file a lawsuit to determine whether or not the arrests have
legal basis," said Yusril, adding that it was possible that the
police had violated the procedure.

The Criminal Code Procedure requires material evidence and
arrest warrants before police investigators can arrest any
suspected criminal or terrorist, while the Antiterrorism Law
requires only an approval from a local district court head.

Police investigators have, in the past few weeks, arrested
dozens of Muslim activists in Jakarta, Lampung and Central Java
using the Antiterrorism Law, but allegedly without securing
permission from the heads of the local court.

They also said that the activists were arrested for their
alleged links to, or possible role in a string of terrorist
attacks in the country.

The arrests have drawn strong reactions from religious leaders
and House of Representatives legislators, who demand a thorough
explanation from police authorities.

Chairman of the country's biggest Muslim organization
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Hasyim Muzadi said on Wednesday that he
would meet Da'i in the next two days to ask for an explanation
about the arrests.

Mahendradatta, a lawyer from the Muslim Defense Team said on
Wednesday that he would file a civil suit against the police and
seek financial compensation over the arrests.

National Police Detective chief Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng,
however, said the arrests of the 15 suspects followed required
procedures, and thus were entirely legal.

"The arrests are legal. Those who we've arrested are clear,
police investigators are also clear about them. They (police
investigators) are equipped with the necessary investigation
documents," Erwin stressed.

"We cannot tolerate the use of the term abduction," said
Erwin, in an apparent reference to several commentators who have
recently called it "abduction" or "kidnapping" and likened the
arrests to the methods of the repressive New Order.

Erwin claimed that police had sufficient evidence to arrest
the 15 terrorist suspects, but declined to give details. "Most of
the evidence that is part of the police investigation cannot be
made public at this time. It will all be divulged later in
court," he said.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Basyir Barmawi agreed
with Erwin, saying that the police used Law No. 152003 on
terrorism as the legal basis for the arrests.

Meanwhile, in Central Java, police disclosed on Wednesday that
one of the three terrorist suspects arrested on Tuesday, Bambang
Tutuko, 38, had once studied in Malaysia for about four months
sometime between 1998 and 1999.

In addition to Bambang, police have also arrested a person
identified as Thamin, a Malaysian national, and Syamsul Bachri, a
Jakarta resident.

Bambang was a lecturer at Semarang University in Central Java.

"He has been teaching at the University since 1991. He earned
a master's degree at Gadjah Mada University in 1988. He left for
Malaysia without approval from the university," Semarang
University Rector Imam Soewadi told reporters on Wednesday.

"Bambang did not even tell his wife about his trip to
Malaysia," Imam added.