POSO CHRISTIANS CHARGED WITH TERRORISM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 001050 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR S/CT, EAP/MTS, INL FOR BOULDIN DOJ FOR CTS THORNTON, AAG SWARTZ, OPDAT FOR LEHMANN/ALEXANDRE FBI FOR ETTUI/SSA ROTH NCTC WASHDC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV KJUS ASEC CASC ID SUBJECT: POSO CHRISTIANS CHARGED WITH TERRORISM REF: A. JAKARTA 826 ¶B. 06 JAKARTA 12100 ¶C. 06 JAKARTA 13454 Summary -------------- ¶1. (U) Trials opened in Jakarta the week of April 2 in the cases of 17 Christians from Poso, Central Sulawesi. The men are charged with terrorism and pre-meditated murder in the killings of two Muslims in September 2006. The killings were reportedly a reaction to the execution just days earlier of three Christians convicted of murder for their role in a series of attacks on Muslims during 1999-2001. The cases mark the first known use of the Antiterror Law of 2003 against Christians in Indonesia. The cases are being tried by the Attorney General's Task Force on Terrorism and Transnational Crime, whose formation in 2006 was funded by a $750,000 FY04 ESF grant. End Summary The Indictments -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The trials of 17 suspects involved in the murders of two men in Poso, Central Sulawesi, recently got underway in Jakarta. As with previous cases involving violence in Poso, the trials were moved to Jakarta both for security reasons and to avoid inflaming passions in Poso, where tensions continue to run high. The suspects, all of whom are Christian, allegedly murdered the two victims in retaliation for the execution of three Poso Christians last September (ref B). The three were convicted of murder for their role in attacks on Muslims during the unrest of 1999-2001. The suspects are being tried in two groups: one group of 12 and another of five. According to the indictments, the group of 12 set up a roadblock on a highway outside Poso. They allowed at least one car, whose driver was a Christian, to pass safely but stopped another car containing the two victims, whom the suspects identified as Muslims. The two men were then taken from the car and struck repeatedly, but managed to flee into a nearby house. The mob then forcibly removed the victims from the house and beat them into unconsciousness, while the car was dumped into a ditch. The second group of five suspects then arrived and assisted in moving the inert bodies to a different location. According to the indictments, when one of the victims was found to be still alive, a suspect struck a fatal machete blow to the victim's neck. The group then buried the two bodies. ¶3. (SBU) Both groups face charges under paragraph 6 of the 2003 Antiterrorism Law, as well as charges of premeditated murder, manslaughter and concealing evidence under the general criminal code. The terrorism charge carries a maximum sentence of death. The indictments rely heavily on the statements of the suspects themselves and of three key witnesses. These include the two men who were stopped in their car by the group but later released when it was determined they were Christians, and the man who attempted to shelter the two victims in his home. The indictments also cite the coroner's reports on the two victims. The Suspects -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The 17 suspects are as follows: Hapri Tumonggi aka Api DOB: 23 April 1978 POB: Poso Darman Aja aka Panye DOB: 1983 POB: Masani, Central Sulawesi Edwin Poima aka Epin DOB: 8 December 1981 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi JAKARTA 00001050 002 OF 003 Agus Chandra aka Anda DOB: 17 August 1983 POB: Olumokunde, Central Sulawesi Syaiful Ibrahim aka Ipul DOB: 13 October 1984 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi Erosman Tioki aka Eman DOB: 12 August 1979 POB: Galuga, Central Sulawesi Walsus Alpin aka Eje DOB: 26 November 1983 POB: Olumokunde, Central Sulawesi Benhard Tompondusu aka Tende DOB: 30 December 1978 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi Sastra Yuda Wastu Naser aka Ibo DOB: 17 August 1983 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi Romi Yanto Parusu aka Romi DOB: 1 August 1987 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi Fernikson Bontura ala Kenong DOB: 10 November 1986 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi Jefri Bontura aka Karate aka Ate DOB: 22 December 1985 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi Arnoval Mencana aka Opan DOB: 23 August 1981 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi Bambang Tontou aka Bambang DOB: 26 August 1983 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi Jonathan Tamsur aka Nathan DOB: 12 December 1983 POB: Paramba Dedy Doris Serpainus Tempali aka Dedy DOB: 3 January 1981 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi Roni Sepriyanto Rantedago Parusu aka Oni DOB: 3 September 1988 POB: Poleganyara, Central Sulawesi First Christians Charged With Terror -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The trials mark the first known use against Christians of the Antiterror Law of 2003; previously terror charges were mainly leveled against Muslims linked to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) or other Islamic extremist groups. Muslim Defense Team (TPM) attorneys for three Poso Muslims recently convicted of terrorism in the case of the 2005 schoolgirl beheadings (ref A) complained to the press during the trials that the Antiterror Law was being used exclusively against Muslims. The TPM cited this in alleging that law enforcement officials were unfairly targeting Poso's Muslim community, a belief they claimed was widely shared among Muslims in Poso. It is not clear whether those statements had any impact on the indictments against the 17. (Note: INP investigators told us that the reason terrorism charges had not previously been brought against Christians in Poso was that Muslims were behind the terrorist violence carried out since the law was passed. Before the present instance, most if not all the JAKARTA 00001050 003 OF 003 Christians arrested in Central Sulawesi had committed their crimes in the years prior to the passage of the law.) According to one legal expert, the terrorism charge is correct only if the prosecutors can prove that the murders caused widespread fear or panic among the local Muslim population; otherwise, the crimes should be tried as murder. The indictments do not address this aspect of the case. ¶6. (SBU) The trials are being handled by prosecutors from the Attorney General's Task Force on Terrorism and Transnational Crime. The Task Force was created in 2006 with USG support in the form of a $750,000 FY04 ESF grant (ref C). Task Force prosecutors recently won terrorism convictions against the three Poso terrorists cited above, and are currently preparing cases against eight other suspects linked to attacks in Poso. HEFFERN