Suspects in bombing case lodge claims in pretrial

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court began on Thursday a pretrial hearing filed by 22 men accused of taking part in the September bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

Johnson Panjaitan of Legal Aid and Human Right Association (PBHI) urged the court to free the men because their arrests were made by the police based on feeble initial evidence.

Johnson said all his 22 clients were victims of wrongful arrest by the police.

He demanded that the police pay Rp 1 million compensation for each suspect, issue a public apology and rehabilitate their names.

He invoked Article 14 of the Criminal Code Procedures which says that a person could only be arrested if there was sufficient initial evidence to support the accusation of a criminal offense.

The 22 men include the owner and workers of a car repair shop in South Jakarta, many of them were of Aceh origins, prompting the police to work on the theory that the bombing may be part of a campaign by the Aceh Free Movement (GAM).

Police have also linked the bombing with the grenade attack at the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta in August.

All the suspects have denied any role in the bombing. GAM has also rejected the attempt to link it with the bombing.

Police have also arrested two members of the Indonesian Military in connection with the bombing. Their cases are being handled separately by a joint police-military prosecuting team.

Jakarta Police lawyer Sr. Insp. Rizal Syahman Radi told the court that the arrests of the 22 suspects were made after investigators collected sufficient evidence.

Rizal said the confession of one of suspects led to the arrest of the other suspects, including Tengku Ismail, the owner of the Krung Baru Motor car repair shop and considered the mastermind of the bomb attack.

Only three of the 22 suspects are under police detention. The other 19 have been given suspended detention since Oct. 6.

Judge Soedarto adjourned the hearing until Friday. (01)