The Jakarta Post, November 17, 2006
Fugitive surrenders in Poso
Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu
One of 29 people wanted by police for suspected involvement in anti-Christian attacks
in Poso and Palu, Central Sulawesi, has surrendered, a police spokesman said
Wednesday.
Andi Ilalu, alias Andi Bocor, 38, voluntarily surrendered to a local leader Tuesday
afternoon. The resident of Mapane, Poso Pesisir district, was flown to the provincial
capital Palu for questioning by the police anti-terror detachment.
Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Muhammad Kilat confirmed Andi
had surrendered. "He went to see a leader in Mapane, who then took him to the Poso
Police office," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said preliminary investigations indicated that Andi was possibly connected to the
2003 murder of Kasrin Ladidin in Landangan, Poso Pesisir.
A second deadline for suspects to surrender ended Tuesday, leaving 28 people still at
large.
The second deadline was given after the first one, from Nov. 1 to Nov. 7, failed to
achieve results. This may have been because the suspects' relatives refused to assist
in the police investigation, fearing their relatives would be tortured.
"We will only hand over our family members if the police promise not to harm them,"
said Yunus Gafur, the grandfather of two suspects.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam said earlier the 29
suspects, all civilians, were believed to be involved in a range of violent acts.
Meanwhile, 15 other militants, belonging to the Tanah Runtuh and Kayamanya
Muslim groups from the town of Gebang Rejo, were recently arrested. They are
considered suspects in a series of attacks, beginning in 2001, that targeted
Christians in Central Sulawesi, the National Police spokesman said.
The Tanah Runtuh group has been accused of involvement in several murders in Poso
since 2001, including the 2005 beheading of three Christian school students and the
shooting of a Christian minister in Palu last month, AFP reported.
The second group has been accused of robbery and inciting mob violence by raising
religious issues and spreading hatred against the police.
Anton said with the passing of the second deadline, the police were left with two
choices; to continue trying to persuade the suspects to turn themselves in voluntarily,
or to be more active in searching for them.
If the persuasive method fails again, the police will not be afraid to find and arrest the
suspects, but he promised there would no violence or abuse toward them.
"We'll protect their rights. That's why they will be accompanied by their lawyers and
the police will be under the supervision of the National Police during any
interrogation," Anton said.
He said that based on intelligence reports, the suspects were still in Poso and the
police would guard the city's entrances and exits to stop them from leaving. The
police would also cooperate with police from neighboring countries to prevent them
from escaping abroad.
"But I'm sure they will not be able to get out of Poso, let alone escape to other
countries. They're all still in Poso so it's better for them to surrender to the police,"
Anton reiterated.
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