The Jakarta Post, February 10, 2006
Ambon murder suspects demand justice
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
Two Muslim militants, facing possible death sentences for plotting a February 2005
attack on a karaoke bar in Ambon in which two people were killed, demanded justice
in their case.
The suspects -- Idi Amin Tabrani Pattimura, alias Ongen Pattimura, and Fathur Datu
Armen -- are charged with masterminding the Feb. 14 attack on the Villa karaoke bar
in Hative Besar village, Teluk Ambong Baguala district. They made their demand for
justice ahead of a court session Thursday at the Ambon District Court during which
they responded to the indictments against them. The two said the attack was in
revenge for the death of their colleague, Ismail, who they claim was fatally shot by a
police officer while traveling to Latu village in Western Seram regency. In an autopsy
performed on Ismail at Bhayangkara Hospital, doctors said Ismail died from injuries
sustained in a traffic accident. However, his relatives claim he died after being shot in
the chest. "Our family felt cheated by the hospital in this incident. We were very angry
... and the attack on the karaoke bar was an expression of our vengeance," Onger
said. "If the sentence demand of the prosecution is considered fair, I'm ready to be
hanged. I'm ready to die ... but remember our action was the result of the violence in
Maluku.
Besides vengeance, the attack also was a demonstration of our distrust of the police,"
he said. Fathur said he and his colleagues felt they were being discriminated against
by a 2003 law on the eradication of terrorism. They say if the law was properly
enforced many people in Maluku would be labeled terrorists. Fathur claimed he and
Onger were being unfairly targeted by the authorities. He claimed two suspects
involved in a similar deadly attack were released. And another man arrested for the
possession of an illegal weapon was detained for three months and then released.
"Don't scapegoat us and brand us as terrorists," Father said. Fathur's lawyer,
Hamdani Laturua, said injustice had caused the karaoke bar attack. In a 58-page
response to the prosecution's indictment, Laturua said the prosecutors had ignored
the root of the problem. The lawyer also accused prosecutors of being too zealous in
applying the 2003 terrorism eradication law.
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