SIRA activist wants to be tried in Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Detained chief of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) Muhammad Nazar rejected on Wednesday the proposal to move the trial against him to Medan, capital of neighboring North Sumatra province.

The activist insisted that the case be tried in Aceh.

"The ministry of justice thinks security conditions in Aceh are not stable and that it's not safe to hold the trial here.

"On the contrary, I guarantee that Acehnese will not conduct any acts of anarchy during my trial," Nazar told journalists by cellphone from the Banda Aceh penitentiary on Wednesday.

Nazar also expressed concern for his safety if the trial is moved to Medan.

"I'm afraid for my safety ... and I think the police are afraid that I will reveal the truth about what has been going on here," he said.

Chairman of Banda Aceh District Court, Farida Hanoum, revealed earlier on Tuesday that the justice minister had appointed a court in Medan to try Nazar. Nazar's dossiers will be sent to the Medan District Court on Tuesday next week.

"Besides the lack of judges, the volatile security situation in the province (Aceh) was a consideration when making the decision to try him in Medan," Farida said.

Several fatal incidents took place in Medan last year, such as the unsolved murder in January 2000 of Tengku Nashiruddin Daud, a United Development Party (PPP) legislator in the House of Representatives (DPR) and a member of the special committee for Aceh.

GAM spokesman Ismail Syahputra went missing in Medan in mid- 2000 and has not been seen since.

Chairman of the New York-based nongovernmental organization International Forum for Aceh (IFA), Jafar Sidik Hamzah, also went missing in Medan in August last year and his body was found months later.

"Legally, since the case took place in Aceh, Nazar should be tried here.

"I think the change of venue is some kind of conspiracy to worsen the situation in Aceh ... So, we reject it," Abdurrahman Yacob, Nazar's lawyer, said.

Nazar has been in detention since Nov. 20 last year after organizing a mass congress to demand a referendum in Aceh.

Nazar is being charged under Articles 154 and 155 of the Criminal Code for showing hostile intentions/treason against the state, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.

On Wednesday, a group of representatives from the Aceh provincial legislative council met with Nazar at the penitentiary.

The councillors similarly rejected the proposal to move the trial to Medan.

"Even the trials of major cases like the murder of Tengku Bantaqiah were held here. Why must they move Nazar's to Medan ?" councillors Mustafa A. Geulanggang and Muchlis Muchtar said.

"If the venue is moved to Medan, we're concerned that the trial can be easily engineered and interested parties can put pressure on the prosecution," said Gani Nurdin, member of the monitoring committee of the ongoing moratorium on violence. (50/edt)