The Australian, January 30, 2003
Militia boss cleared of incitement
By Don Greenlees, Jakarta correspondent
AN Indonesian court has acquitted the leader of an Islamic fundamentalist militia
accused of fuelling a sectarian civil war in the eastern Indonesian islands of Maluku
that claimed several thousand lives before petering out more than a year ago.
Jaffar Umar Thalib, commander of the now officially disbanded Laskar Jihad, was
accused of inciting attacks on Christians, inciting hatred against the Government and
defaming President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
In a setback to Indonesia's efforts to control the activities of Islamic extremist
organisations, the East Jakarta District Court found yesterday that the charges
against Mr Thalib had been "convincingly" disproved.
The prosecution case centred on a sermon Mr Thalib gave at a mosque in the Maluku
capital of Ambon in April last year in which he appealed to supporters to fight against
a Christian militia known as the Maluku Sovereignty Front (RMS).
Two days after the sermon, the then-dormant conflict was reignited when a group of
attackers overran the village of Soya on Ambon island, killing 13 people.
The arrest of Mr Thalib in May was hailed as a sign that authorities were prepared to
crack down on Islamic extremist groups, which had appeared to enjoy a level of legal
immunity during the three-year sectarian conflict.
As pressure mounted on Laskar Jihad, the organisation declared it was disbanding
two days before the October 12 Bali bombings. However, a number of Western
diplomats have expressed concern that the organisation went under ground.
Although prosecutors had requested only a one-year prison sentence for Mr Thalib,
the trial carried great symbolic significance for Indonesia's struggle to control Islamic
extremism following the Bali bombings. Studies of the Maluku conflict concluded that
Laskar Jihad had been the key to sustaining and spreading the violence.
Mr Thalib was the charismatic leader of an organisation that numbered several
thousand, and his acquittal could embolden radical elements at a time when
Indonesia is bracing for a resurgence of protests if the US leads a war against Iraq.
Mr Thalib told reporters: "I hope this is an attempt by the judge to uphold freedom of
speech in defence of the state and its people."
The court said Mr Thalib's April sermon was an appeal to support the nation's
territorial integrity because of the supposed separatist agenda of the RMS.
This week, another Jakarta court convicted two RMS leaders and sentenced them to
three years' jail for plotting a separatist rebellion in Maluku.
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