Sunday, October 10, 2010 02:07 AM
Police set to pile charges against Ba’asyir
Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The police are set to add more anti-terrorism charges against Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, following a finding that he was likely to have incited actions in North Sumatra’s robbery and attack on a police station.
“We will compile the testimonies from the group members, including those who listen to Ba’asyir’s sermons in Hamparan Perak, [North Sumatra]. We will add them to the Ba’asyir case file so people can get a clearer picture of the cleric’s involvement in these events,” National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan told journalists Friday.
Iskandar was referring to an alleged terrorist group military-style training camp in Jantho, Aceh, a CIMB Niaga armed bank robbery in Medan on Aug. 18 and a fatal attack on Hamparan Perak Police in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, in September.
The National Police’s antiterror squad Detachment 88 arrested Ba’asyir in West Java on Aug. 10, when the firebrand cleric and his family were on their way home in Central Java.
At that time the police accused him of having a role in fundraising activities for the Jantho training camp. The police said about Rp 1 billion (US$100,000) had been given to the training through Ba’asyir.
The police believed the members of Jantho camp were related to al-Qaeda, Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, led by Ba’asyir. The police are now trying to find more evidence linking Ba’asyir’s sermons in Hamparan Perak to the armed robbery and the attack.
He said according to the arrested suspects, during his sermons, Ba’asyir often told his followers to practice jihad in their daily lives. Police said they had reason for suspicion as Ba’asyir often referred to jihad as a fight where one can do anything, including committing violence, in order to achieve the goal.
Iskandar said the police found indication that Ba’asyir told his followers that the robbery and killings were justifiable as long as they were done in the spirit of jihad.
“We have managed to acquire the information from those who are currently under our custody. These people used to attend the military training camps in Jantho, Aceh, and are also held responsible for the recent violence,” he said.
He said as many as three terrorist suspects now under police custody over their involvement on the CIMB Niaga armed robbery had said they joined the Jantho military training.
He added several suspects had also admitted their involvement in the police attack in Hamparan Perak, which claimed the lives of three police officers. He said right now the police were still pursuing five to six more people who were held responsible for both the armed robbery and the police post attack.
“I hope these perpetrators cannot find their way out of North Sumatra region so we can arrest them in the immediate future,” he said.
The North Sumatra Police have been pursuing several robbery suspects who ran into the woods and mountains in the province. The latest manhunt was conducted at the foot of Mount Sinabung in Karo regency after a tip off to the police when locals heard gunshots.
North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Oegroseno said Friday they had shot dead eight suspects and arrested three others during the intrepid manhunt throughout the province. In the development of a bombing case in Bekasi, the police arrested two men in Bandung on Thursday evening, a police source said Friday.
The suspects were allegedly related to a man who was carrying a low-level explosive on his bicycle. The bomb exploded, injuring the lone bomber, Ahmad, who has been hospitalized at the Police General Hospital in Kramat Jati, Jakarta.
za 9 okt 2010 - 19:17