Acehnese Rebels Denounce their Leaders' Arrest in Sweden

Producer: Bharati Jagdish
First broadcast: 17 June 04, Radio Singapore International

Free Aceh Movement or GAM leaders in exile in Sweden, Malik Mahmud, Zaini Abdullah and Hasan Di Tiro are being questioned by Swedish prosecutors who say the three are "suspected of grave breaches of international law".

Indonesia claims the movement's leaders ordered an attack on the Jakarta Stock Exchange in the year 2000 as well as several other bombings, assassinations, arson attacks and kidnappings.

The three came to Sweden in the early 1980s as political refugees and are now Swedish citizens.

As such they cannot be extradited to Indonesia.

While Mahmud and Abdullah have been detained, Di Tiro, the titular leader of the separatist movement, has not been arrested because of health reasons.

Jakarta has been pressing Stockholm for the past year to curb the activities of the exiled leaders.

For more on what led up to the arrests, Bharati Jagdish (BJ) spoke to Ulf Samuelsson (US), Second Secretary of the Embassy of Sweden in Indonesia.

US: "The process began last year when two Indonesian government delegations came to Sweden. The delegations were led by the former Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ali Alatas. He went to Sweden twice, once in April and one in June last year. After his second visit in June, the delegation issued a formal complaint to the Swedish police. So then the case was handed over to the chief prosecutor at the International Prosecutor's Office in Stockholm."

BJ: Swedish prosecutors say the arrests took place because these three people were suspected of "grave breaches of International Law". Would you be able to comment on the charges?

US: "I cannot comment on that because that's solely the responsibility and the privilege of the chief-prosecutor."

BJ: Has this been carried out with the endorsement of the Swedish government?

US: "Well, you can't really say that because the prosecutor's office is working totally independently, so the Swedish government or even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have no say in what he's doing and what he's not. He works independently and we cannot interfere in any way so you can't really say whether the government is endorsing this or not. We're not part of the process."

BJ: Is there anything else you can tell me about the procedure? What happens next?

US: "Well, I can tell you that this is a part of the preliminary investigation that the prosecutor initiated in February this year. He opened the preliminary investigation on the 16th of February. This arrest is certainly not the end of the process. When it will be concluded, I cannot comment on, but they will have to next make a decision on whether to indict them or not. That is quite far ahead. What will take place between now and then, I cannot comment either because that's up to the prosecutor."

BJ: How much of this, would you say, has occurred solely because of pressure from the Indonesian government and how much because of actual concrete evidence against these three GAM leaders?

US: "That's also difficult to say. The process started because of the formal complaint from the Indonesian government. When a complaint like that is received by the Swedish judicial authorities, they have an obligation to investigate it. Otherwise, they'll be breaking their own regulations. They would have had to conduct the process in any case."

Ulf Samuelsson (US), Second Secretary of the Embassy of Sweden in Indonesia, speaking to Bharati Jagdish.

Guerrillas in Aceh have vowed to maintain their battle for independence despite the arrest of their leaders.

Meanwhile, Indonesian investigators are trying to gain access to the three in order to glean information to build cases against rebels detained in Indonesia.

But analysts in Indonesia are still not clear about the charges against the GAM leaders.

Bharati Jagdish (BJ) spoke to political analyst, Humam Hamid (HH) in Jakarta.

HH: "What we know is the Indonesian government sees Di Tiro and the others as controllers and managers of all rebel activities in Aceh and in Indonesia."

BJ: But that's true to a large extent, isn't it?

HH: "Well, the movement has been there for so many years and the members of GAM certainly recognise him as the leader of the movement."

BJ: So do you think the arrests are warranted?

HH: "We have to learn more before we can say anything. The news just came today, so we need more time to consider this."

BJ: Would you say that the leaders of GAM in Sweden are now outrightly being seen as leaders of a terrorist organisation?

HH: "I think it is the right of the government of Indonesia to accuse them but let's see how the Swedish authorities treat this case."

BJ: What sort of impact do you expect these arrests to have on the GAM rebels? They've said that they are going to continue with their fight in spite of the arrest of their leaders, but do you expect them to falter in any way in the near future?

HH: "I think that's meant to be seen. Hasan Di Tiro may have been a great inspiration for their fight, but he's been overseas for decades and they still carry on. So I think it's meant to be seen."