Sweden to review GAM leaders' case
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Swedish lawyers wrapped up their investigation here on Sunday, but whether leaders of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) would be tried or not remains unknown.
Tomas Lindstrand, head of the Swedish prosecution team investigating into terrorist acts allegedly perpetrated by GAM leaders, stressed on Monday that the team would review the evidence to determine whether they have a strong case against GAM leaders residing in Sweden.
Desperate to crack down on the rebels, who have been fighting for an independent Aceh since the 1970s, Indonesia has declared GAM a terrorist group and has pressed Sweden to take firm action against its leaders, including founder Hasan Tiro, who is a naturalized Swedish citizen.
The Swedish team, which arrived last Tuesday, has interviewed 23 people, most of whom were GAM members imprisoned in Banda Aceh and Medan, North Sumatra. They also interviewed those implicated in the bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange in 2000 and Cut Safrida, a GAM hostage who was released.
Lindstrand was quick to add that his team was not able to interview everyone on their list, including GAM commander Muzakkir Manaf, GAM spokesman Sofyan Dawood and Zakaria Zaman.
"These (three) men are very important, but this (being unable to interview them) was mostly due to practical reasons, such as the whereabouts of the persons being unknown," Lindstrand said on Sundayat the office of the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs.
Zakaria Zaman, another leader of the separatist movement, is believed to in exile in Sweden.
"We have received a lot of information this week and when we are back in Sweden, the first thing to do is for us to study these testimonies and compare them to other materials. Then we will decide about how to go on," Lindstrand said.
Asked whether the interviews were held under conducive circumstances, he replied: "All interviews were conducted in a rather relaxed atmosphere. Sometimes they (Indonesian authorities) involved a lot of people, including the police ... I did not get the impression that any one of these witnesses were bothered about this ... But I had no knowledge as to what had happened to the interviewees before or after their interviews."
Most of the interviews were conducted at police headquarters and GAM members were not provided legal counsel, which raised public concern that the witnesses were not free to express their thoughts.
Some GAM leaders have accused the Indonesian authorities of threatening detainees with torture and instructing them what to say in the interviews.
Lindstrand admitted that a detained GAM member had refused to be interviewed unless he was accompanied by a lawyer.
"Besides him, to my knowledge, no one has asked for a lawyer and in my opinion, there is no need for anybody to request a lawyer. Our interviews are mostly for our input and they are not suspects. They are just people who wished to share information," he said.
Meanwhile, Demak Lubis, the deputy for national security at the office of the top security minister, said the visit aimed at gathering in-depth information and evidence to supplement the documents Jakarta sent to Stockholm regarding its accusations against GAM.
"We hope the team will come up with positive results," Lubis said.
The government has tried to file indictments against GAM leaders since it launched the so-called integrated operation and imposed martial law May 19, 2003, accusing them of ordering GAM fighters to carry out terrorist acts across the country.
The Indonesian Military claims that more than 1,300 GAM fighters have been killed while 2,000 GAM members and sympathizers have been arrested or have surrendered since last May.