ABC AUSTRALIA, 23/04/2003 21:06:54
Abu Bakar Bashir trial
An angry crowd gathered outside the Jakarta courtroom where the Muslim cleric
who's been named as spiritual leader of the terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiah
went on trial today. Despite Abu Bakar Bashir's reputation, none of the charges relate
to the Bali bombing. Instead he's been accused of crimes involving the bombing of
Christian churches, plans to attack priests and an aborted plot to assassinate
President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Transcript:
[Sound of angry crowd]
MARK COLVIN: An angry crowd outside the Jakarta courtroom where the Muslim
cleric who's been named as spiritual leader of the terrorist organisation Jemaah
Islamiah went on trial today.
Despite Abu Bakar Bashir's reputation, none of the charges relate to the Bali
bombing. Instead he's been accused of crimes involving the bombing of Christian
churches, plans to attack priests and an aborted plot to assassinate President
Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Our Indonesia correspondent Tim Palmer was in the courtroom today. I began by
asking him if the crowd had impeded police from getting the accused into the court
room.
TIM PALMER: No, they didn't interrupt the proceedings themselves. They did erupt
the moment that the 65-year old cleric appeared in court. He appeared in good health,
he said he was in good health.
He sat down and described himself as a religious teacher, but of course, as you said,
the court is suggesting he is much more than that. The documents describe him as
the emir of Jemaah Islamiah.
And [in] over 25 pages of charges, the prosecutors laid out in detail the case against
him, including the bomb plots, killing 19 people at churches in Jakarta and elsewhere
in Indonesia, other plots that failed in Singapore and that abortive assassination
attempt on then Vice President Megawati – all leading to the one central charge that
he is guilty of treason. They say he is wanting to bring down the state and replace it
with an Islamic state.
MARK COLVIN: So why did they not charge him with anything to do with the Bali
bombings?
TIM PALMER: That's still a subjection for speculation. Some observers would suggest
that he made a determination at some stage in the months leading up to the Bali
bombing, that he felt it was a bad time to undertake such a significant attack against
Western targets, that he was fearing at the time a significant crackdown, possibly
motivated from the United States, against the Jemaah Islamiah group.
And that he at that point simply abandoned ideas for violent action. But while the
court in this case hasn't directly linked him to the Bali attacks, the court does tie him
to some of the Bali suspects.
And that is that in the Christmas bombings and in other plots, Mukhlas and Imam
Samudra, two of the key Bali suspects, are there in the documents, having a close
relationship with Abu Bakar Bashir.
MARK COLVIN: How long is the case likely to last, and what kind of process will it go
through?
TIM PALMER: Very difficult to say how long it will last, because typically in
Indonesia, this sort of matter will only sit one day a week before the five judges. Today
was largely procedural. The defence are seeking delays, but I don't think the defence
are getting much their way at the moment.
They're also wanting the key witnesses to be brought to court, rather than having
statements simply produced on paper. But certainly today's was the most
spectacular appearance of Abu Bakar Bashir.
He's been spirited to police stations and back in past months, but today was the day
that his hundred or so supporters certainly made their presence felt in court. And as
he left, he was jostled by a large crowd, all trying to press at the door at the ones
chanting "God is great" and claiming, in fact, that America was behind terrorism.
MARK COLVIN: And have there been any more arrests and any further progress on
the Bali bombing case?
TIM PALMER: Coinciding with the trial, since Friday, Indonesian police have said
today that they've released 17 people in Java and in Sulawesi, one of them a very
senior member of Jemaah Islamiah.
The man they are accusing [is] Nasir Abbas, [and he is accused] of running the third
Mantiqi or division of Jemaah Islamiah, and that is the northern section covering
Brunei, Saba and Malayasia and the southern Philippines and the northern provinces
of Indonesia.
As well as catching him, police say they've caught one more Bali suspect in Java,
Umar Basar [phonetic], who's known as "Wyan" [phonetic] and described as the local
boy at the time the police first announced suspects, a man who scoped out targets
initially, police said, and possibly helped prepare the bomb.
Another man in Sulawesi, called Sa'ad [phonetic], is also involved in the Bali bombing.
And all up 17 Jemaah Islamiah members, according to Indonesia's national police.
MARK COLVIN: Our correspondent Tim Palmer in Jakarta at the courtroom where
Abu Bakar Bashir, the reputed leader of Jemaah Islamiah, went on trial today.
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23/04/2003 21:06:54 | ABC Radio Australia News
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