The Jakarta Post, 4/7/2004 1:29:43 PM
Supporters rally for Ba'asyir's release
JAKARTA (AP): Supporters of jailed militant cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir rallied
Wednesday in Jakarta to support his release while his attorneys said it was
"inevitable" their client would soon face another trial on terror charges.
Shouting "God is Great," about 100 students from a school founded by Ba'asyir in the
Central Java town of Ngruki protested outside police headquarters here, demanding
that Ba'asyir be released from jail later this month as scheduled.
Ba'asyir is doing time for minor immigration offenses after the Supreme Court cleared
him of earlier treason and terror counts.
However, Washington and Canberra have publicly called on Jakarta not to release
him, saying Ba'asyir is a key Southeast Asian terror leader. Last week, Indonesian
police said they may declare him a suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings - meaning he
will stay in detention for the foreseeable future.
"The police are itching to arrest Ba'asyir again," said his lawyer, Muhammad Assegaf.
However, the sharp reversal that President Megawati Soekarnoputri's party suffered in
Monday's parliamentary elections could make her government less likely to move
against Ba'asyir before July's presidential vote, when she may have to rely on Muslim
support to get re-elected.
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