Two former GAM negotiators charged with terrorism

Two former GAM negotiators charged with terrorism

Nani Farida and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post,
Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe

Two former negotiators for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) went on
trial in the Banda Aceh District Court on terrorism and treason
charges on Thursday.

Separately, four employees of a palm oil plantation who had
been held hostages for weeks, were freed after their abductors
were involved in a firefight with security personnel in
Matangkuli, North Aceh.

Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba and Nashiruddin bin Ahmed are accused of
violating Articles 13 and 15 of Law No. 1/2002 on terrorism and
Article 55 of the Criminal Code on subversion. The charges carry
a maximum sentence of death.

The lead prosecutor said the pair were guilty of terrorist
acts of murder, bombings, shootings, abductions and extortion.

The trial is being heard by a panel of judges presided over by
Maratua Ramdi, one of nine judges from North Sumatra who have
been drafted in to try alleged separatists in Aceh.

Three other former GAM negotiators -- Teuku Kamaruzzaman,
Teuku Muhammad Usman and Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki -- went on trial
on Tuesday on similar charges.

Immediately after the charges were read out, Sofyan pleaded
innocent to all charges.

"I am just a negotiator representing GAM, not a GAM commander.
None of the charges laid against me have any relation to myself.
The charges are based on murky sources and unverified field
data," he told the court.

Sofyan said it made no sense to try the former negotiators for
terrorism and treason as "the negotiators were actually
volunteers who tried to help build peace".

He also filed an official protest with the court alleging the
police "mistreated" him when he refused to sing Indonesia's
national anthem, Indonesia Raya.

Sofyan's lawyer Munarman, of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Institute, demanded his client be acquitted of all charges, which
he described as "very vague".

"We request the judges acquit the defendant of all charges as
the prosecutors have mixed up political aspects with legal ones,"
he said.

He said any crimes committed by rebels in the field were not
acts of terror, and could not be blamed on the defendants.

The lawyer also said that the antiterrorism law was passed in
2002 and could not be applied to his client as the crimes he was
accused of took place before the law was passed.

The trial was adjourned until Aug. 5, when the court will hear
from the prosecution.

Two of the four released hostages, Saiful and Hamrizal, who
are employees of PTP Nusantara I in Cot Girek, were ordered by
their kidnappers to run as a separate gunfight between a unit of
the Army's Special Forces and dozens of GAM members took place in
Lupuk Badak village in Matangkuli district.

They ran for three hours before meeting a military patrol,
which later found the two other hostages, Yonizam, 40, and Jalil
Hanafiah, 45, at a GAM headquarters deep in the hilly area. They
were taken to the Lhokseumawe-based military operation command
for questioning.

According to the hostages, they were well treated by the
kidnappers, who were all under 25 years old.

"They said we had done nothing wrong. They just wanted to use
us as a shield should there be a military attack. They also said
we were taken hostage as the company we work for failed to pay Rp
200 million to GAM," Hamrizal said.

In other developments, the military denied reports that the
GAM leader in Pase, Tengku Jamaika, was still alive, insisting he
was killed on Wednesday.

Military operation command spokesman Lt. Col. Ahmad Yani
Basuki said that the operation command had gone through reliable
procedures to confirm Jamaika's identity.

"A village chief and other GAM members arrested during the
operation confirmed that the dead man was Jamaluddin Kandang. Let
others doubt it but we are sure that the dead man is Tengku
Jamaika, the spokesman for their Pase military command," said
Yani.

Relatives of the dead man confirmed on Thursday that his name
was Jamaluddin Yahya.

Eyebox:

Law No. 1/2002 on terrorism

Article 13 states that anyone who supports terrorists
financially, or who houses terrorists or who conceals information
on terrorist acts can be punished with a maximum of 15 years in
prison.

Article 15 stipulates that anyone involved in "criminal
conspiracy", or who aids terrorist acts can receive a sentence of
up to death, or life imprisonment.