ABC AUSTRALIA, 30/04/2004 09:46:57
Riot police clash with Bashir supporters outside Indonesian
prison
In Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, supporters of jailed Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir
have thrown rocks and bottles at police, who then turned a water cannon on them.
Our correspondent in Jakarta, Tim Palmer, says the clash happened when the police
arrived outside a prison to prepare to arrest the terror suspect on new charges.
Hundreds of riot police arrived outside Salemba Prison just after daybreak.
Within minutes, clashes had begun with hundreds of supporters of Abu Bakar Bashir,
many of whom had arrived overnight from central Java.
Police used tear gas after the crowd began ripping up paving stones and throwing
them at the officers.
At this stage, police have forced the Abu Bakar Bashir supporters several hundred
metres away from the main prison gates.
At the prison itself, two armoured vehicles have arrived, apparently prepared to take
away Abu Bakar Bashir for further detention at Jakarta's main police station.
Bashir was due for release from prison after a court halved his sentence for
immigration offences and document forgery.
Police say he will now be held under anti-terror laws, citing evidence of Bashir's
involvement in training camps and recruitment for the Jemaah Islamiyah movement.
Foreign governments accuse Bashir of having led the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah
Islamiyah (JI) network, which is blamed for the Bali bombings and for a string of other
deadly attacks.
The United States, Australia and Singapore expressed disappointment after
Indonesia's Supreme Court in March halved Bashir's three-year prison sentence for
immigration offences and document forgery.
A lower court had earlier quashed the cleric's original treason conviction for
involvement in a JI plot to topple the government.
30/04/2004 09:46:57 | ABC Radio Australia News
© 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
