Sweden to review GAM leaders' case

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.