T

he Medan City Police on Monday distributed the photos of two terror suspects allegedly involved in the CIMB Niaga bank robbery and the attack on the Hamparan Perak Police station in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra.

Both the suspects are identified as Mustafa, alias Abu Tholut and Taufik Hidayat. Thousands of their photographs have been distributed across Medan, mostly in the Percut Sei Tuan district.

The area, located near the coast, is strongly believed to be the hiding place of both suspects.

Percut Sei Tuan Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Simanjuntak and several of his men were seen immediately posting the pictures of the two terror suspects.

”The area is believed to be the hiding place of the terror suspects, and that’s why many of their photos have been distributed here,” said Simanjuntak, adding he hoped residents would provide information on the suspects quickly to police as and when they spotted them.

North Sumatra Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Syafruddin, who is also head of the Terror Eradication Integrated Team in the province, said on Monday that police, alongside the Indonesian Military (TNI) were still tracking down the attackers of the Hamparan Perak Police station and the bank robbers. Syafruddin said they were strongly believed to be hiding in the east coast area of Sumatra.

“We believe the terrorists are hiding in the coastal area, and that’s why the team is still hunting for them in the east coast area and waters off of the province. The provincial police have coordinated with the Indonesian Navy in Belawan.”

Meanwhile, the government has promised to no longer issue generous sentence remissions, or clemency to terrorists following the spread of terrorist attacks across a wider area of Indonesia recently.

These views were expressed by Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar after speaking at a students’ inauguration ceremony at the North Sumatra Muhammadiyah University in Medan on Monday.

”Bearing in mind that terror incidents have become more widespread by the day, the government has firmly announced that it will stop granting sentence remissions and clemency to terrorists, especially to repeat terror offenders,” said Patrialis.

Patrialis added that remissions and clemency for terrorists would not ensure that terror acts in Indonesia would decrease.

National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said Abu Tholut had once been sentenced
to eight years for terrorism in Indonesia, but was freed after receiving a remission of four years on his prison sentence from the government.

According to Patrialis, the government would implement “nationalism awareness therapy” to help curb the widespread terrorism in Indonesia, by personal approaches and by involving community figures in delivering awareness training on nationalism and on the importance of unity in pluralism.

”There’s no-one superior to the other. The awareness training is expected to encourage the spirit of nationalism. Sorry to say that they [terrorists] lack the spirit of nationalism, evident from the widespread bomb attacks and never thinking of the safety of others,” he said.

Patrialis acknowledged the government was hard pressed in facing terrorism in Indonesia, especially after the recent attacks in Sumatra.

”The government is apparently hampered or proceeding slowly in uncovering the terror networks, but we will consult with the House of Representatives on how we can react more effectively in the future,” he said.