TPM demands release of 'Gun Gun'

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