EXTRADITION
Bringing Back Umar Patek

Fugitive Umar Patek is finally returned. Instead of terrorism charges, he will face indictments for murder and possession of firearms.

WHEN his BlackBerry began to ring, National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) Chief Ansyaad Mbai immediately grabbed the phone. His face turned serious. That morning last Wednesday, the speaker on the other end of the line had an important message to relay: mission accomplished. “When will they leave? Oh, they already left last night?” said Mbai. Moments later, the conversation ended. Mbai looked very relieved. “Two teams were sent from Indonesia to pick up Umar,” Mbai told Tempo in his office at the BNPT building, Menteng, Central Jakarta.

By ‘Umar,’ he was referring to Umar Patek, the number-one terrorist fugitive who was detained in Pakistan. Patek, whose real name is Hisyam Ali Zein Bawazier, was arrested in the Orash Valley, some 150 kilometers from Islamabad, at the end of last January. The valley is part of Abbotabad city region. Indonesia wanted to bring Patek home. As such, ever since his capture in Orash, the Indonesian government has been employing various efforts to extradite Patek to Indonesia. These efforts finally bear fruit.

Last Monday, an advance team consisting of members of the Anti-terror Special Detachment and the Immigration Office went to Pakistan. Two days later, a team of 10 consisting of BNPT members, Foreign Ministry staff, and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) followed them. “They will organize the deportation of Umar Patek and his wife to Indonesia,” said Mbai.

The operation to bring back Patek is the result of a long diplomacy between Indonesia and Pakistan. Indeed, Patek is a special prisoner. Indonesia had to convince Pakistan that the fugitive must be returned to Indonesia. In his homeland, Patek’s trails can be seen in some terrorist bombing acts. A number of documents reveal that Patek was the bomb maker behind the suicide bombing at Sari Club and Paddy’s Cafe, Kuta, Bali, on October 12, nine years ago.

Following his capture by Pakistan’s intelligence unit, Patek was detained in a special prison belonging to Pakistani police. Pakistani government then requested Indonesia’s assistance to identify him. Indonesia sent a team consisting of members of the Special Detachment and BIN. Alongside staff from the Pakistan embassy and armed with a DNA sample taken from one of Patek’s family members, the team carried out its identification efforts on April 12-15. Patek’s DNA was compared against the sample brought from Indonesia. It was a positive match. The bearded man who was caught by the Pakistani secret service is none other than Umar Patek.

Mbai said that everyone has shown positive cooperation towards Indonesia’s intention of bringing back Patek. Previously, aside from Indonesia, there were three other countries who were also interested in Patek: the Philippines, United States, and United Kingdom. The last two had many of their citizens killed in the Bali bombing. Later though, the US loosened up. Mbai assumes that the different attitude was due to the changing policy of the US government under the leadership of Barack Obama towards terrorism. To the Indonesian team who interrogated him in prison, according to Mbai, Patek said that he traveled to Pakistan to commit jihad (holy war) greater than the ones he had previously carried out in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Previously, the urge to bring Patek home also came from the ranks of House of Representatives (DPR) members, such as Mahfudz Siddiq from the Defense Commission, among others. During a hearing with BIN some time ago, Mahfudz questioned the government’s seriousness in bringing Patek home. “Not only as a fugitive, but also because of his status as our citizen,” he said. “His information is also needed to reveal the terror bombings that have occurred until today,” he further added.

Sandy Indra Pratama

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