Khabar South East Asia – Oktofani's Page

Police unwittingly sold weapons to terrorists: court testimony

Unaware where the guns would end up, the officers supplemented their police salaries by selling warehoused weapons.

Testifying as prosecution witnesses in a terrorism trial this week, two former police officers and a businessman described how in pursuit of profit, they accidentally facilitated the sale of weapons to a paramilitary group in Aceh.

Prosecutors presented the three Monday (December 10th) at the trial of Enjang Sumantri, a suspected member of the Cikampek terrorist network accused of sending weapons to Aceh and raising funds for a terrorist training camp there through robbery.

Testimony of the three witnesses revealed how they unwittingly supported that terror network, a crime for which they were convicted and sentenced in January 2011 to ten years in prison.

Tatang Mulyadi and Abdi Tunggal, former brigadiers in the National Police, were logistics officers tasked with guarding a National Police warehouse in Cipinang, East Jakarta. Ahmad Sutrisno was a businessman involved in weapons maintenance at the Indonesian Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, outside Jakarta.

From June 2009 to March 2010, Tatang and Abdi sold 28 weapons, including 11M-16s, 4 AK-47s, 2 M-58s, and some 20,000 bullets, to Sutrisno.

“I sold the weapons simply because I was looking for profit. I did not know that the weapons were sold to a paramilitary group in Aceh. I only became aware of this after I was arrested,” Tatang told the West Jakarta District Court session.

“I knew that Sutrisno was actually a member of the Mobile Brigade’s weaponry warehouse, and he told me that the weapons would be used by the Brigade,” he added.

Tatang told the court that he sold the weapons for Rp 3 million to 10 million ($312 to $1,038) each, depending on the type of weapon. He also sold more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition to Sutrisno for Rp. 1,000 ($.10) each.

“The weapons, which were placed in the warehouse, actually could not be used anymore and they were set to be destroyed. I asked Abdi to fix them, and we shared the profit,” Tatang said.

Abdi told the court that he fixed five of the 28 weapons sold to Sutrisno and got a $415 commission for the work.

Sutrisno testified that he too did not know that the weapons would be used for paramilitary training. He resold them to an officer he believed was still active in the National Police.

“At that time, Muhammad Sofyan Tsauri ordered a number of weapons from me. He told me that he needed the weapons to secure the coal mining area in Kalimantan,” Sutrisno said.

“After I was arrested, I learned that the weapons were used for paramilitary training in Aceh,” he said.

From his business with Sofyan, Sutrisno received approximately Rp 60 million ($6,233).

Sofyan graduated from the Police Academy in Sukabumi in 1998 and was stationed in Depok. In 2002, he was posted to Aceh for seven months.

Dishonourably discharged in June 2009 due to a polygamy issue, he was later linked to the bombing of a police mosque in Cirebon and prosecuted for supplying weapons to a terrorist cell in Aceh. He too, is serving a ten-year prison sentence.

Sutrisno said he wondered at the time why Sofyan, a police officer, would buy weapons from him.

“I actually asked him why as a police officer, he ordered weapons through me. And he said that it is difficult for an ordinary officer to get weapons.”

OIC to militant group: who gave you the right to speak for Islam?

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a hardline group frequently accused of intimidation and violence, came under sharp criticism from Organisation of Islamic Co-operation Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu during his recent visit to Jakarta.

“From where did they get the license to do such things?” Ihsanoglu asked as he spoke to reporters February 20th at the Presidential Office. “When somebody says ‘I am doing this in the name of Islam’, we have to question who gave them the license to speak on behalf of Islam.”

Islam has a standard in the form of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet Muhammad), said the official, who was in Indonesia last month for the inaugural meeting of OIC’s newly-established Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission.

Members of the body held talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has been vocal in calling for moderation and religious tolerance.

Interpretation should be made by the proper religious authorities and “it should be in context”, The Jakarta Post quoted Ihsanoglu as saying. The FPI garnered headlines by deputising itself as a moral police squad, with mobs of hooded men shouting in Arabic as they attack and vandalise bars, nightclubs, stores selling alcohol, and food vendors that stay open during Ramadan.

Such incidents have angered many in Indonesia who see the group as threatening the country’s distinctive blend of Islam and democracy. In mid-February, hundreds of protesters rallied in Jakarta and other cities to denounce the FPI’s actions.

Prominent Islamic authorities in Indonesia have also criticised the FPI, saying Islam does not condone vigilante behaviour. Imdadun Rahmat, Deputy Secretary General of Nahdlatul Ulama, says the group has been misusing Islam by conducting acts of violence in order to force its point of view and achieve its objectives.

“Everybody has the right to use Islam in their organisation’s name as long as their actions accord with Islamic values and vision, without forcing their point of view on other people,” he said.

Amid mounting public pressure, the FPI says it is changing its ways.

Awid Masuri, the group’s deputy secretary general, acknowledges that the FPI for many years has utilised violent means in order to realise its goals, but he says this approach is being scrapped.

“We have been trying to change our approach to society to enforce the law by having a better communication with people,” he said. “Although we have changed our paradigm to a more peaceful approach, the mass media is still creating a negative image about us.”

That argument didn’t convince Imdadun, who said the group is just using the media as a scapegoat in order to deflect attention from its behaviour. “It is a fact that they have been using violence to achieve their objective. Everybody knows and sees it! Why would they pin the blame on the media exposure?” he said.

“Islam is a peaceful religion,” Imdadun added.

Muhammad Guntur Romli, a pluralist activist, told Khabar Southeast East Asia that laws are in place, which could be used to restrain FPI vigilantes.

“Indonesia actually has several legal instruments for curbing anarchist organisations such as the FPI — either Indonesian Criminal Code or Law Number 8 of 1985 on Mass Organisation,” he said.

But Mohammed Mahfud MD, the chief of Indonesia’s Constitutional Court, said more specific regulations need to be in place.

“Although Indonesia has legal instruments regarding mass organisation, it does not regulate them properly. Therefore the government cannot disband any mass organisation, because it will be against democratic values,” he said. “It needs to be understood that the state cannot disband any mass organisation without a proper regulation.”

Interreligious Council (IRC) Chairman Din Syamsuddin says mass organisations have the right to exist in the country as long as they do not resort to violence.

“I’m not talking about certain groups, but in general they all have the right to exist, the right to speak up. However, they can only do that under one condition: none of them should resort to violence,” Din, who is also the chairman of the Muhammadiyah, the country’s second largest Islamic organisation, said in comments quoted by aThe Jakarta Post.