TEMPO Magazine No. 40/IV/June 08 - 14, 2004
Law
Terrorism Target?
Police are currently investigating the shooting of prosecutor Ferry Silalahi. He was
working on a terrorism case at the time of his murder.
PROSECUTOR Ferry Silalahi now rests in peace at the Adiyaksa cemetery in
Cibinong, Bogor. A fortnight ago, Ferry was tragically shot, leaving a number of cases
unfinished. Controversially, Ferry was working on a high-profile terrorism case involving
terrorist suspects Firmansyah (also known as Iskandar), Aang Hasanuddin and Fajri
(also known as Yusuf) at the time of his shooting. Ferry's colleagues have suggested
that his murder is linked to his work on the case.
Ironically, the Palu District Court had convicted and sentenced the suspects to five
years in prison each, on charges of terrorism. However, they successfully appealed
the verdict. On appeal, the Central Sulawesi High Court overruled, exonerating the
three from all charges. Controversially, the court also ordered their immediate release
from custody.
Disappointed with the verdict, Ferry filed a request for judicial review. Ferry's actions
inadvertently postponed the release of Firmansyah and his colleagues from custody,
triggering outspoken protest from the trio.
During trial at the high court, Ferry charged Firmansyah and his colleagues with
conspiracy to commit terrorism. Ferry charged the defendants under the
Anti-Terrorism Laws of harboring suspected terrorist and national fugitive, Achmad
Roichan. Roichan had been accused of protecting Bali bombing operational chief,
Muchlas.
Pursued by police, Roichan fled to Palu and stayed with Firmansyah at his house on
Jl. Hayun. Roichan frequently met with Fajri and Aang Hasanuddin during his stay
with Firmansyah. During that time, Fajri brought Roichan money and accompanied
him to meetings. However, Firmansyah never reported Roichan's whereabouts to
police, although they had posted photos of Firmansyah all over the place. When
police finally discovered Roichan, they also charged Firmansyah with harboring a
fugitive.
However, Firmansyah's lawyer, Asludin Hatjani, denied these charges. Hatjani
claimed that his client was unaware that Roichan was wanted by police. He claims
that Firmansyah lived a simple life and was unaware of Roichan's status as a national
fugitive. "They don't even have a television, and they aren't subscribers to a daily
newspaper," explained Hatjani in reference to the three defendants.
On appeal, the Central Sulawesi High Court ruled that there was insufficient evidence
to convict Firmansyah and his colleagues. Chaired by Mahdi Soroinda Nasution, the
presiding judicial panel controversially deleted Roichan's name from the list of Bali
bombing terrorist suspects. Nasution also declared that Roichan was not involved or
linked in any way to the Bali bombing.
Central Sulawesi High Court chair, Bagus Sugiri, defended the court's verdict, stating
that the presiding judicial panel had adjudicated over the case professionally and had
not been influenced by any political considerations concerning terrorism at the time.
"The court is not obliged to follow trends," Sugiri told TEMPO. Sugiri held that there
was no reason to convict the defendants in the absence of strong evidence, although
the Denpasar District Court had declared almost all of the defendants brought before it
guilty of terrorism.
But the team of prosecutors (Ferry Silalahi, Eddy Dikdaya and Syahrul Alam) rejected
the court verdict. Led by Ferry, the team filed for judicial review, claiming that the
court failed to properly consider the Denpasar District Court's verdict. The Denpasar
court sentenced Roichan to nine years in prison for hiding and harboring Bali bomber,
Muchlas. This verdict was upheld on appeal.
Firmansyah and his co-defendants welcomed the high court verdict, particularly the
court's decision to order their immediate release. The court ruled that since the
defendants had been exonerated of all terrorism charges under law, they should be
released from custody, even though the prosecutor had appealed the decision.
But Firmansyah's chances of freedom were thwarted by the prosecutor's office, which
claimed that it had not received a copy of the court verdict. Asludin, a member of
Firmansyah's legal defense team, protested the delay in his client's release from
custody. "This violates their right to freedom," he said at the time.
Asludin also said that the decree, signed by the Central Sulawesi High Court chair,
had already been forwarded to the Supreme Court Chief Justice; the attorney general;
the Director-General of State Penitentiaries; and all relevant government instances;
including the Palu District Prosecutor's Office and Palu District Court chair. According
to Asludin, the prosecutor's office had received a copy of the court verdict.
In the meantime, Ferry's colleagues claim that his murder was linked to the case he
was working on. Ferry told colleagues that he had met with Fajri in prison and had
rejected Fajri's request for freedom during that meeting.
However, Asludin has denied that his client was involved in Ferry's shooting. Asludin
maintains that neither Firmansyah nor his colleagues could gain from Ferry's death.
copyright TEMPO 2003
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