Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta – The wife of Tatang Mulyadi, a police officer accused of facilitating the sale of weapons to a paramilitary group in Aceh, testified on Tuesday that it was economics, not extremist ideology, that led to her husband's crime.
Tatang, a second brigadier in the National Police, along with First Brig. Abdi Tunggal, stand accused of supplying weapons to Ahmad Sutrisno, a businessman who allegedly sold the weapons to militants in Aceh.
Tatang and Abdi were both logistics officers tasked with guarding a National Police warehouse in Cipinang from which the weapons were stolen.
Lina Marlina, Tatang's wife, testified at a Jakarta court hearing on Tuesday that her husband's actions were the result of their dire financial situation, not because of terrorist sympathies.
Lina told the hearing that Tatang had objected to the fact that she had to take on extra jobs to support their family. She explained that Ahmad earned just Rp 2 million ($224) each month.
"We have two children. One is 7-1/2, and the other is 3. I have to sell bags and clothing door-to-door to earn extra money," Lina said, adding that even though they had been married for 10 years, the couple still lived in the police dormitory in Ciracas.
Ahmad, who is being tried separately as a civilian, is accused of violating the 2003 Anti-Terror Law by acting as middleman in the sale of the stolen police weapons he allegedly obtained with the help of Tatang and Abdi.
On Tuesday, Ahmad's second wife, Vera Damayanti, also told the court that she believed her husband's involvement was driven by financial need. Vera was summoned to court because she had directly met with Muhammad Sofyan Tsauri, an alleged terrorist and former police officer who is on trial separately in Depok for training militants at the Aceh camp.
Sofyan had previously told the East Jakarta District Court that he had met Ahmad in mid-2008, and when Sofyan was tapped to procure weapons for mujahideens, or Islamic warriors, he turned to Ahmad for help.
Vera told the court, "I met him twice last year. He asked my husband to take him to the hospital, and then the second time, he came to our house to pray. My husband and I had a short conversation with him then, after which he left."
Vera and Ahmad moved to Jakarta from Malang, East Java, in 2007. "Ahmad went there first, but he never told me anything about his work, nor did he tell me anything about what to expect in Jakarta," she said.
After a couple of months, Ahmad told her that he was now "in partnership with the [National Police] Mobile Brigade [Brimob]". "He told me that he was procuring supplies for the brigade. He never told me anything else. I never saw his workplace or colleagues. He always said that it was men's business," she said.
Vera also said her husband usually spent a couple of days each week with his first wife in Depok. "Ahmad has many cars," she added.
When asked whether she ever found guns or ammunitions in her house, Vera replied that Ahmad once brought an airsoft gun in 2009, and that shortly before Ahmad was arrested, he brought home a plastic bag full of ammunition. "He just left the bag on the floor. So I opened it and found out it was full of bullets. I asked him what they for, and he said that I didn't have to think or ask about it," she said.
Vera also said that she only heard Tatang's name mentioned over the phone by her husband, but she never met him in person, and she did not know Abdi.
Sofyan previously said that he Ahmad had met in mid-2008 and started an airsoft gun business together shortly thereafter. It was some time after that he asked the police officer to help him procure real guns. Sofyan said he had at least 17 separate transactions with Ahmad between October last year and January this year.
Sofyan told the court that Ahmad had provided him with almost 20,000 bullets and 28 firearms, including four AK-47 assault rifles, 11 M-16 rifles, two M-58 rifles and six revolvers. Sofyan said he earned Rp 28 million ($3,100) from the transactions.
The National Police raided the militant camp in February.