TERRORIST TRIALS BEGIN IN JAKARTA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000071 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, S/CT, INL FOR BARCLAY/ROESS/BUHLER DOJ FOR CRIM AAG SWARTZ, DOJ/OPDAT FOR ALEXANDRE/BERMAN/JOHNSON DOJ/CTS FOR MULLANEY, ST HILAIRE FBI FOR ETTUI/SSA ROTH NCTC WASHDC NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER ASEC ID SUBJECT: TERRORIST TRIALS BEGIN IN JAKARTA REF: 08 JAKARTA 1298 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (U) This message was coordinated with Consulate Medan. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY: The trials of ten alleged terrorists have begun in Jakarta. The ten suspects were arrested in Palembang, South Sumatra, in July 2008. The suspects are linked to the terrorist Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and other Muslim hard-line organizations. One of the suspects, a Singaporean national, is an alleged associate of Singaporean JI leader Mas Selamat Kastari (who escaped last year from a Singapore prison). ¶3. (C) SUMMARY (Con'd): The ten alleged terrorists face between four years in prison and the death sentence for violating the 2003 Anti-Terrorism Law. The USG-funded Task Force on Terrorism and Transnational Crime is overseeing the prosecution in each case. END SUMMARY. TERRORIST TRIALS BEGIN ¶4. (SBU) The GOI has formally charged ten suspected terrorists linked to the so-called JI Palembang cell. The ten are being tried in four separate cases, running concurrently. The suspects were grouped based on the severity of their crimes and the articles of the Anti-Terrorism Law under which they are being tried. The group was arrested in a July 2008 raid on a suspected JI safehouse in Palembang, South Sumatra (reftel). At the time of the arrests, the men were allegedly plotting an attack on a bar frequented by non-Muslims in a resort town on the island of Sumatra in Western Indonesia. The men, who became affiliated through their membership in the local Forum Against Apostasy or FAKTA group, allegedly called off the attack after realizing that Muslims might be killed. They are accused of killing an Indonesian teacher in 2007 and of attempting to kill a Catholic priest in 2005. ¶5. (C) Fajar Taslim is the most notable of the suspects. According to the GOI narrative, the bearded, severe looking Singaporean (of Malay extraction) English teacher was a bomb maker who met with Osama bin Laden and had a close relationship with Singaporean JI leader Mas Selamat Kastari. He was allegedly a courier between bin Laden and Riduan Isamuddin aka "Hambali," who is currently under detention in Guantanamo Bay. Taslim became a teacher of the alleged terrorists because of his past association with Kastari as well as noted bomb-maker Dr. Azahari (who was killed by Indonesian security forces in 2005). He faces the death sentences under these charges. CHARGES OUTLINED ¶6. (C) The ten suspects were charged under various articles of the 2003 Anti-Terrorism Law: --Abdurrohman aka Musa aka Ta'ib aka Ivan and Ki Agus Muhammad Toni are charged with planning and mobilizing others to commit an act of terrorism under article 14, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years. --Sugiarto aka Sugicheng aka Raja, Agustiawarman aka Abu Taskid and Heri Purwanto aka Abu Hurairoh are charged with conspiring or giving assistance to an act of terrorism under articles 7 and 15. JAKARTA 00000071 002 OF 002 --In a separate trial, Fajar Taslim aka Muhammad Hasan, Ali Mashudi aka Zuber, and Wahyudi aka Yudi are also charged under articles 6 and 15 for plotting to cause fear and cause mass casualties. Those convicted under Article 15 may be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. --Anis Sugandi aka Abdullah Hussair and Sukarso Abdillah aka Abdurrohman are charged with aiding and abetting an act of terrorism under article 13 and face a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment. TOP-NOTCH TASK FORCE PROSECUTING CASE ¶7. (SBU) The trials are being held in the Central Jakarta District Court where members of the Attorney General's (AGO) Terrorism and Transnational Crime Task Force are leading the prosecutions. Two of the cases are being handled by the same USG-trained prosecutors, Narendra Jatna and Totok Bambang, who successfully convicted JI leader Abu Dujana on terrorism charges in April 2008. ¶8. (C) Prosecutors Totok Bambang and Narendra Jatna told Poloff that, contrary to press reports, not all of the suspects were JI members. They clarified that the Palembang group was affiliated via the FAKTA group and was connected to JI through Taslim. Narendra Jatna elaborated that although Taslim had allegedly learned bomb making from Dr. Azahari, it was more likely that he used readily available manuals to teach the group bomb-making techniques. HEFFERN