Court allows reconsideration of evidence vs 3 Indonesians

Three Indonesians arrested for possession of explosives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last month were given 60 days by the court yesterday to have the evidence against them reconsidered.

Judge Henrick Gincoyon of the Pasay City regional trial court granted the motion of the Filipino lawyer of Agus Dwirkana, Abdul Jamal Balfas and Tamsil Linrung for a preliminary investigation, thereby postponing an arraignment scheduled for yesterday.

The hearing lasted only a few minutes. Preliminary investigations usually take 60 days.

The three Indonesians, who claimed they were businessmen, were taken into custody on suspicion of terrorism on March 13 after police allegedly found bomb-making materials in their bags as they were about to fly to Bangkok, Thailand on their way to Frankfurt, Germany.

Found in the bags of the suspects were C-4 plastic explosives and detonation cords.

One of the suspects has accused the arresting officers of planting explosives in his luggage when it was opened for a manual check following X-ray examination.

Linrung claimed he was framed to discredit Indonesian presidential hopeful Amien Rais. He was formerly treasurer of Rais’ National Mandate Party.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) debunked the Indonesian’s claim.

The three suspects, who supposedly came to the Philippines on a business trip have posted bail of P200,000 but are still being detained in Camp Crame because of an immigration case filed against them.

Jakarta behind arrest in Manila?

The mystery surrounding the arrest of Linrung deepened yesterday after a former Indonesian intelligence chief said the suspect was apparently detained at Jakarta’s request.

Retired Lt. Gen. Z.A. Maulani said the other day that Philippine authorities had admitted the arrest was made at Jakarta’s request.

"They say it followed a request from Jakarta, that Linrung be arrested," Maulani said, according to a transcript of his comment obtained by AFP.

Maulani, who was intelligence chief from 1998-1999, stressed he had no personal knowledge of the case.

"It was a statement made by the Filipino security personnel, not my accusation," he said after meeting Indonesian Vice President Hamzaj Haz last Tuesday. Haz has said he does not believe Jakarta authorities were involved in the arrest.

Maulani speculated that the arrests may be linked to the Indonesian government’s drive to counter accusations that the country has failed to act rapidly against terrorists.

"Because our country is currently accused of being slow in handling terrorism, I believe this is one of the ways to show we are not so," he said.

The PNP has said the three men are believed linked to Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, an Indonesian currently detained on charges of being an explosives expert for the al-Qaeda terror network.

Linrung, in an interview conducted by an Indonesian magazine, said his arrest was engineered by Indonesian intelligence "to block Amien Rais’ chance" of getting the No. 1 job in Indonesia.

"Amien will be regarded as incompetent as I am a party officer. This is the work of dirty politicians and intelligence," Linrung was quoted as saying.

Linrung, who has business interests in a restaurant chain and in construction and plantations, is a member of the advisory board of the Committee for the Preparation of the Enforcement of Sharia.

Dwirkana is a coordinator for the Laskar Jundullah, a militant Muslim group advocating the imposition of Islamic Sharia law in Indonesia.

Balfas says he manages a contracting company for an Indonesian mining firm, according to Philippine authorities. – With AFP