JAKARTA (JP): Arrested commander of Islamic militant group
Laskar Jihad Ja'far Umar Thalib, denied any wrongdoing on Sunday
and is now considering launching a pretrial lawsuit against the
National Police over his arrest, which he said was baseless and
lacking in evidence.
One of Ja'far's team of lawyers, Mahendradatta, said on Sunday
his client would go ahead with his plan to challenge his arrest
this week.
"We have discussed filing a pretrial application against
the National Police, which Ja'far is taking seriously. We are just
waiting for his confirmation," Mahendradatta told The
Jakarta Post.
Ja'far was arrested at Juanda Airport in Surabaya after flying
from restive Maluku province, on charges of agitation and
slanderous remarks against the President.
Police used tape recordings of a speech Ja'far made encouraging
Muslims to fight Christians just two days before the bloody attack
on Soya as sufficient evidence to detain Ja'far, although,
according to the law, any form of recording cannot be presented as
evidence.
Ja'far was heard on the tape calling on the Muslim crowd at Al-Fatah
Mosque to prepare bombs, ammunition and fire them at their
enemies.
"There is no Malino II (a government-initiated peace
agreement signed by Maluku's Muslim and Christian leaders in
January), there will be no reconciliation with non-Muslims. We
will fight them until our last drop of blood," the recording
heard. He also expressed his intention to kill the relatives of
the late former president Sukarno, whose daughter is President
Megawati Soekarnoputri. (ylt/tso)
