Students set to stand trial over terrorism charges

P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office is ready to indict four Indonesian students deported from Pakistan in December 2003 for their alleged roles in financing and providing training for terrorist activities.

The prosecutor's office Spokesman Haryono told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday it had received completed dossiers of the four suspects from the National Police Headquarters last Thursday.

"The dossiers are ready to support their indictment and trials. We are currently finishing their indictment documents," said Haryono.

The four terrorist suspects awaiting trial are Rusman Gunawan alias Gun Gun, Mohammad Syaifudin, Ilham Sofyandi, and Furqon Abdullah.

According to Haryono, the four would be charged under articles 11, 13, and 16 of Law No.15/2002 on Antiterrorism. Furqon Abdullah and Ilham Sofyandi would also be charged under Article 263 of the Criminal Law on document forgery.

National Police Anti-Terror Division chief Brig. Gen. Pranowo earlier said the four students had helped and supported terror suspects with funds and training.

One of the students, Gun Gun admitted during a preliminary interrogation in Pakistan on Dec. 8 and Dec. 9 that he had sent telecommunications equipment and US$50,000 to his older brother Hambali, an Indonesian-born terrorist suspect who has been in the custody of the U.S. authorities since Aug. 2003.

Hambali is believed to be the leader of the Southeast Asian regional terrorist network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which has been blamed for the Oct. 2002 Bali blasts and the Aug. 2003 attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.

According to National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko D. Ardanto the four students were among six students deported by the government of Pakistan on Dec. 11, 2003.

Pakistani authorities arrested Mohamad Syaifudin, Ilham Sofyandi, David Pintarto, Furqon Abdullah, Muhammad Anwar As- Shadaqqi and Rusman Gunawan, alias Gun Gun, in early September 2003 in Karachi for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities.

Soenarko said that due to a lack of evidence, police finally released David Pintarto and M. Anwar As-Shadaqqi, on Dec. 17.

Meanwhile, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, a suspect of various terror attacks across the country who has alleged links with JI, complained police only had one thought on their minds, putting him back in prison.

"In my case, I feel that power speaks louder than law. It doesn't matter whether the accusation can be proven or not, but as long as they can put me back in jail then that's that," Ba'asyir told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Ba'asyir also called the fear expressed by the U.S. and Australia upon his release on April 30 "somewhat funny". He added both countries were only afraid of the sharia movement.

Habib Hussein Al-Habsyi, the chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Brotherhood (IMI) said after visiting Ba'asyir the intervention of the U.S. and Australia had brought Indonesia's sovereignty into question.

"America was trying to put pressure on the National Police by aiding them with military equipment, so that the police would feel like giving something in return by putting Uztad (Ba'asyir) in jail," he added.