Sweden to pay damages to rebel

Sweden to pay damages to rebel

SWEDEN: Sweden will pay 10,000 kronor (US$1,257) in damages to an exiled rebel leader from Aceh, who was jailed for three days last year.

The leader, Zaini Abdullah, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he was satisfied with the amount and that "it was the highest amount I could get".

Abdullah and another leader of the Free Aceh Movement, Malik Mahmud, were jailed in Sweden in June last year after Indonesia accused them of terrorism. A court however rejected a request by prosecutors to keep Abdullah detained pending an investigation, ruling that the evidence against him was too weak. Both men were released.

A third man, Hasan di Tiro, titular leader of the Free Aceh Movement, was not arrested, for health reasons.

Earlier this year, chief prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand dropped the investigation of the exiled leaders, saying there was no evidence they helped plan terrorist attacks in Indonesia.

Mahmud and Abdullah are accused by Indonesia of staging assassinations, arson attacks, bombings and kidnappings. -- AP