Indonesian to appeal 17-year jail term for bomb possession

Convicted Indonesian terrorist Agus Dwikarna is mulling appeal of the court’s verdict that sent him to a prison term of 10 to 17 years for illegal possession of explosives.

Dwikarna expressed his intention to appeal his conviction in a talk with a 13-member Indonesian delegation that visited him in jail at Camp Crame yesterday.

The Indonesian government, sources said, also questioned Dwikarna’s conviction and sought a retrial of the case.

Jakarta also asked the Philippine government not to transfer the 35-year-old Dwikarna to the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa City, a request apparently granted because he remains incarcerated at the detention center of the Philippine National Police investigation group in Camp Crame.

Dwikarna’s visitors included local politicians of Sulawesi province in Indonesia, notably Tamsil Linrung, a gubernatorial candidate in Sulawesi.

The group’s visit came on the heels of a protest rally staged by Dwikarna’s supporters in front of the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta.

The demonstration prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to call on some 4,000 Filipino expatriates in Indonesia to exercise caution to defuse any tension brought about by Dwikarna’s conviction.

DFA spokesman Victorino Lecaros said Philippine Charge d’ Affaires Catalino Dilem, in a dialogue with the protesters, gave assurances that their demands would be duly considered by Manila.

Dilem also reported that Indonesian Foreign Minister Nur Hassan Mirajuda assured him that his government respects the judicial process in the Philippines.

Linrung was arrested with Dwikarna and a third Indonesian, Jamal Balfas, last March at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as the trio were about to board an overseas flight.

However, Linrung and Balfas were freed following high-level talks between Manila and Jakarta.

A Camp Crame official expressed hopes that Dwikarna’s supporters would stop protesting at the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta after their leaders have seen the actual condition of the prisoner.

Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal, head of the PNP’s anti-terrorism task force Sanlahi, said earlier security was tightened at the embassy to prevent possible terrorist attacks on the facility.

Philippine Ambassador to Jakarta Leonides Caday nearly got killed in a bomb attack on his residence in the Indonesian capital in August 2000.

Caringal said Dwikarna, who was linked by Philippine authorities to the al-Qaeda network of Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, remains influential in Indonesia where he enjoys popular support among the business community.

Dwikarna was implicated in the Dec. 30 simultaneous bomb attacks in Metro Manila that left at least 22 people dead and scores of others wounded.

Also last week, police filed before the Department of Justice charges of illegal possession of explosives against another Indonesian and a Malaysian suspected of terrorism.

Justice Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee said Riduan "Hambali" Isamuddin, an Indonesian, and Faiz Bin Abu Bakar Bafana, a Singaporean-Malaysian, are members of Jemaah Islamiya, an Indonesian terrorist group belonging to al-Qaeda.

They were implicated by Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, an Indonesian who was sentenced last April to 12 years in prison for illegal possession of over a ton of explosives stashed in a backyard in General Santos City.

Al-Ghozi received another 12-year prison term for falsifying two Philippine passports, which, police said, was part of a terrorist scheme. He pleaded guilty to both charges.

"Hambali and Bafana were charged because of their roles in financing the explosives used in the (General Santos City) bombing," Teehankee told reporters. "Hopefully, if charges are filed in court, warrants for their arrest can be issued soon."

Fifteen people were killed on April 21 in a series of bomb explosions in General Santos City.

Officials said al-Ghozi admitted "procuring" explosives along with "Muslim Filipino cohorts" but said he was acting "upon the orders and instructions of the foreign nationals," namely, Isamuddin and Bafana who, however, are at large.

"But we believe one of them is in Singapore," Teehankee said, hoping that police in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore would be able to track down the two and extradite them to Manila once arrest warrants are out.

Balfas and Linrung were released last April upon orders from Mrs. Arroyo after her Indonesian counterpart, Megawati Sukarnoputri, intervened on their behalf.

Dwikarna said he was deputy secretary and treasurer of Partai Amanat Nasional, a party of an Indonesian presidential hopeful.

However, prosecutors ruled that Dwikarna’s claim "must also be proved clear and convincing evidence because it is of the same category as alibi."

At least two people were killed, including Caday’s driver, when a car bomb went off outside Caday’s Jakarta residence as his limousine was about to enter the driveway.

Caday was seriously wounded and was pulled out of his wrecked car by passersby.

Authorities said they are still investigating Dwikarna’s alleged links to Majlis Mujahidin Indonesia, a terrorist group allied with Jemaah Islamiyah.

Both groups allegedly are members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

"We also learned that this MMI wants to build parts of Mindanao as their training base," investigators said. "We want to nail him down on the Rizal Day bombing, because that’s arson and murder and he can’t apply for bail."

Intelligence officials alleged that Dwikarna, Balfas and Linrung met associates of al-Ghozi. Authorities said al-Ghozi, 31, was an explosives expert for Jemaah Islamiya. He is currently detained in Camp Crame.

Philippine intelligence authorities said al-Ghozi was likewise involved in the Rizal Day bombings. He admitted giving money to local terrorists to carry out the attacks. — With Christina Mendez, Jaime Laude, Pia Lee-Brago