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Indonesia: Jihad Chief Arrest Unlawful Says Court
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
JAKARTA, May 22 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A district Court in Jakarta declared on Monday that the May 4th arrest of the commander of the Laskar Jihad, Ja'afar Umar Thalib, was unlawful.
Judge Samsul Ali of the South Jakarta District Court said it was the court's decision that the arrest made under instructions of National Police Chief General Surojo Bimantoro was not according to law.
"The court decides that the arrest [on the plaintiff], which was made upon the instruction of National Police chief was unlawful," Samsul said while reading his verdict.
The judge also ordered the police chief to pay the plaintiff compensation of $100.
Numerous Laskar Jihad Wal Sunnah Wal Jamaat members and supporters who initially condemned the arrest met the ruling with relief and congratulated the judge. The ruling itself, however, was based purely on a technical matter.
Samsul said it was illegal for the police chief to order the arrest simply by faxing instructions to his counterparts in South Java, because the instructions were not original, as it was a facsimile copy.
"A facsimiled letter is not a valid evidence," he said, speaking about the legal grounds for nullifying the arrest.
A lawyer named Suyitno representing the police chief said he would report the court's verdict to his client.
Meanwhile, Wirawan Adnan, lawyer for the plaintiff, said that if the judge declared the arrest unlawful, the detention as well is unlawful.
Adnan, however, said the plaintiff, Thalib, accepted the verdict and would not pursue other legal action.
Thalib made headlines in Indonesia after he was arrested on charges of causing unrest in the Malukus region, a province torn by three years of strife between Muslims and Christians.
While in detention, however, the police altered charges to that of manslaughter after receiving evidence that Thalib had used Islamic law to punish a member of the Laskar Jihad.
Thalid was questioned over the fatal torture of a Laskar Jihad member who had confessed to adultery while fighting a holy war in Maluku.
Sources said Abdullah, the member of the Jihad group tortured, was half-buried in the ground and stoned to death. Abdullah actually confessed to having sex using force against a woman from the Malukus.
In Indonesia, laws forbid stoning and the application of any other Islamic law besides that sanctioned by the state. If the allegation is proved true, the Jihad Legion chief could face charges of premeditated murder.
The Laskar Jihad Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammaah was created after a murderous spree in the Malukus that killed thousands of Muslims and paved the way to the forced conversion of several Muslim women and children to Christianity.
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