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.