THE NEW YORK TIMES, Thursday, January 30, 2003
Indonesia Clears Top Islamic Militant in Attacks on Christians
By JANE PERLEZ
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 30 — An Indonesian court acquitted a prominent Islamic
militant leader today on charges of inciting Muslims to attack Christians on the
religiously divided Maluku Islands.
The cleric, Jaffar Umar Thalib, the head of a paramilitary group called Laskar Jihad,
walked free to chants of "Allahu akbar!" (God is great!) from his followers.
In contrast, two Christian separatist leaders were each sentenced two days ago to
three years' imprisonment for subversion during the violence on the Malukus, in which
thousands of people have been killed.
The verdict could give renewed vigor to Islamic radicals who have been on the
defensive in Indonesia since the terrorist blast in Bali last October, analysts said.
The arrest of Mr. Thalib last May was viewed by the Indonesian government as a step
toward supporting the United States in its campaign against terror. Indeed, the
defense minister, Matori Abdul Djalil, made the arrest on the eve of a visit to
Washington.
The Indonesian government has arrested nearly a score of Islamic militants in
connection with the Bali attack that killed nearly 200 people.
Mr. Thalib was also acquitted today on a charge of defaming President Megawati
Sukarnoputri.
In announcing the verdict, Judge Mansur Nasution said the prosecutors had failed to
prove that Mr. Jaffar was guilty of inciting his followers to violence in a speech
delivered at a mosque near Ambon, the capital of the Maluku islands, last April.
The charge against Mr. Thalib, who led a group called Laskar Jihad, was narrowly
drawn to focus on that one speech, rather than his pattern of violence against
Christians on the island.
"The real mistake was in not charging him with some of the really serious acts of
violence of Laskar Jihad," said Sidney Jones, the director in Indonesia of the
International Crisis Group, which is based in Brussels. "Thousands of his followers
were perpetrating violence against Christians from early 2000 to early 2002."
Ms. Jones added, "We're talking about thousands of people killed by both sides in the
Malukus."
She described the two verdicts this week as unbalanced. The leader of the Christian
separatists, Alex Manuputty, had probably about 200 fighters, Ms. Jones said. Mr.
Thalib, with some 3,000 fighters, was responsible for "greater violence," she said.
In a gesture to show that the government was serious about cracking down on Islamic
militants, the authorities disbanded Laskar Jihad soon after the Bali attacks.
Until then, the group had enjoyed the active support of some elements of the military
and was considered virtually untouchable.
Mr. Thalib is of Yemeni descent and fought in Afghanistan with the mujahadeen
against the Soviets. He publicly started Laskar Jihad in 1999 when he sent his
followers to the Malukus with the backing of several mainstream politicians.
Copyright © 2002 The New York Times Company.
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