Indonesian TV to parade Jemaah suspects
A Malaysian television station has been criticised by a rights group for planning to air the confessions of four Malaysian Jemaah Islamiya (JI) suspects held in Indonesia.
The rights group, Abolish ISA (Internal Security Act) movement, said the telecast could undermine justice.
Malaysia‘s TV3 said its one-hour special on Friday entitled “Confession of JI members” will document the men’s involvement in the JI and their “subsequent disillusionment” with the group.
The four are in prison in Indonesia and the interviews were conducted by TV3 in Jakarta on 11 March.
A local newspaper on Thursday named them as Muhammad Nasir Abbas, Amran Mansur, Jafar Anwarul and Shams al-Bahr Husayn.
Bad precedent
Held since last April, Nasir is the brother-in-law of Mukhlas, one of the men behind the 2002 Bali bombings.
A rights group said the televised interviews could set a bad precedent as the men had not been charged or tried in court.
“Nowhere to date has it been proven that JI exists” statement, |
“The likelihood that they may have been tortured and coerced into making false statements or confessions under interrogation is high,” the Abolish ISA movement said in a statement.
“We are further concerned that the confessions are a fresh attempt to strengthen the false propaganda that JI exists and the danger it purportedly poses,” it said.
“Nowhere to date has it been proven that JI exists.”
Amran was detained over last year’s bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta but Indonesia kept his capture secret to aid efforts to net more suspects.
With Amran’s arrest, Indonesian police have detained 14 people directly linked to the bombing, which along with the 2002 Bali nightclub blasts that killed 202 people, has been blamed on the JI.