Robbery suspects to face trial

The National Police transferred nine suspects allegedly involved in the robbery of a Bank CIMB Niaga branch in Medan to the North Sumatra Prosecutor’s Office on Monday to face trial.

Arraigned: A suspect in the armed heist of a CIMB Niaga Bank branch in Medan last year is escorted by two prosecutors under tight security at the North Sumatra Provincial Prosecutors’ Office on Monday. He is one of nine arrested suspects who will stand trial for the robbery. JP/Apriadi Gunawan The suspects were flown from Jakarta to Medan on a commercial flight, along with evidence for the trial. The suspects are Zamirin, alias Sobirin, Jaja Miharja Fadilah, Nibras, Pamriyanto, Beben Khairul Banin, Agus Sunyoto, Marwan, alias Wak Geng, Anton Sujarwo, and Khairul Ghazali, alias Abu Yasin.

They were in custody for six months at the National Police Headquarters after the robbery of a Bank CIMB Niaga branch in Medan in August last year, in which a police member was killed and two security guards were injured. The suspects were arrested by the police’s Densus 88 anti-terror squad because they were believed to be members of a terrorist network.

North Sumatra Police Intelligence Unit vice director Adj. Sr. Comr. Mashudi said the suspects may have been involved not only in the Bank CIMB Niaga robbery in Medan, but intelligence dossiers also connected them with terrorism as well.

“The suspects have been charged with terrorism because they are believed to be part of a terrorist group who committed the bank robbery in Medan,” Mashudi said after the National Police team delivered the suspects to the North Sumatra Prosecutor’s Office.

Mashudi said the suspects had been named as suspects by the National Police because they were detained by the Densus 88. He added that they were arrested from various locations in Tanjung Balai and Medan cities and Deli Serdang regency in North Sumatra as well as in Lampung.

Mashudi said, of the nine suspects, four may have been involved in the attack on the Hamparan Perak Police precinct in Deli Serdang as well.

According to Mashudi, the four suspects were among the nine arrested by the Densus 88, though not all of the nine were believed to have been involved in the attack on the Hamparan Perak Police precinct at the end of August last year, in which three police officers were killed.

“The four suspects involved in the bank robbery and police station attack are still being detained at the North Sumatra Police headquarters. They haven’t been delivered to the prosecutor’s office because they are still being examined,” said Mashudi.

The four suspects involved in the robbery and attack were arrested by police members from the North Sumatra Police in a raid in Dolok Masihul district, Serdang Bedagai regency, in September of last year. During the raid, nine suspects in the bank robbery and police station attack cases were killed, among them Taufik Hidayat, who allegedly led the bank robbery and was believed to have shot and killed a police member.

The detained suspects, in custody at the National Police Headquarters or by the North Sumatra Police, have carried out reconstructions of the crimes.

North Sumatra Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Edi Irsan Kurniawan Tarigan said the nine suspects were handed over to the National Police headquarters and temporarily placed in the custody of the provincial police. He added that the prosecutor’s office would immediately arrange indictments against the suspects so they could face trial at the Medan District Court directly.

“We will indict the suspects with the terrorism article,” Edi said after receiving the suspects and evidence from the National Police at the North Sumatra Prosecutor’s Office.