TPM demands release of 'Gun Gun'

JAKARTA: The Muslim Defense Team (TPM) demanded on Friday that Rusmawan Gunawan, alias Gun Gun, be freed due to what they claimed to be insufficient evidence about his involvement in aiding and abetting terrorists.

Achmad Michdan, a lawyer from TPM, said that the results of an investigation conducted last week indicated that there was no evidence to warrant his detention.

"The first accusation about his involvement in terrorism with his brother, Hambali, is baseless because Article 221 of the Criminal Code states that a family member is considered an improper witness. Furthermore, the criminal act he is accused of doing took place abroad (in Pakistan), outside the jurisdiction of Indonesia," he argued.

Gunawan, who is currently being held at the Jakarta police headquarters, is one of the six Indonesian students deported from Pakistan on Dec. 11 for immigration violations and possible involvement in terrorist activities.

"The fact that they were deported means that Pakistani authorities did not consider the six to be criminals," Achmad rationalized.

Gunawan's brother is terrorist suspect Riduan Isamuddin, alias Hambali, who is the alleged chief of the terrorist network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI). JI has been blamed for a string of terrorist attacks including the Bali and JW Marriott Hotel bombings. --JP