Hasanuddin not to blame, say Lawyers
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, February 27, 2007

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)