The Jakarta Post, February 27, 2007
Hasanuddin not to blame, say Lawyers
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Defense lawyers said Monday that the main defendant in the 2005 beheading of three
Christian schoolgirls in Poso had neither organized nor committed the crime.
"The plotter and the one who provided the money was Ustad (cleric) Sanusi.
Hasanuddin only carried the money from Sanusi to the executors," chief lawyer
Asluddin told the Central Jakarta District Court.
He cited the televised statement of Basri, another militant, who has confessed to
taking part in the murders, that he was given money from Sanusi by Hasanuddin to
kill "infidels".
Last week, prosecutors sought a 20-year prison term for Hasanuddin, saying he had
plotted and funded the crime along with selecting the killers.
They did not demand the maximum sentence, death, because Hasanuddin has
expressed remorse during the trial and the families of the victims say they have
forgiven him.
The prosecutors say that Hasanuddin masterminded the 2005 beheadings in revenge
for the killings of Muslims during the three years of communal violence that shook
Central Sulawesi's Poso region from 1998 to 2001 and that his actions increased the
tension and terror in the area.
But the defense said that Sanusi decided where the remains of the girls were to be
dumped and that fingerprints found on the plastic bag containing the girls' heads
belonged to Lilik Purnomo, another defendant being tried separately.
Asluddin also questioned the legal basis for the charges laid against Hasanuddin.
"No exodus ever occurred among residents after the beheadings. Therefore, the
prosecutors cannot use the 2003 Antiterrorism Law to try this case," he said.
He asked the court to only use the Criminal Code in the case, arguing that the
country had never used the antiterrorism law for massacres involving non-Muslim
defendants.
The 34-year-old Hasanuddin is alleged to have come up with the idea of beheading
Christians as "presents for Idul Fitri" on Oct. 29, 2005.
Yarni Sambue, Interesia Morangke, Alifita Paulina and Noviana Malewa were attacked
on their way to school. Noviana survived and reported the murders, although she was
unable to identify the killers because they were wearing masks.
Hasanuddin was arrested in Palu on May 8, 2006, while Taufik was caught on the
same day in Poso, after what police described as "seven months of intensive
investigation".
Their arrests were announced at the same times as those of Jendra, alias Rahmat or
Asrudin, Irwanto Irano, alias Iwan, Lilik Purnomo, alias Haris, Nano Maryono and
Abdul Muis.
Along with Hasanuddin, Lilik Purnomo, 28, and Irwanto Irano, 29, are also being tried
under the antiterrorism law in separate trials. Meanwhile, the four other militants
believed to have been involved in the beheadings are still at large. (06)
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