THE STRAITS TIMES, Friday January 31, 2003
Ex-Laskar Jihad chief cleared of inciting religious violence
Founder of group which sent fighters to the Maluku islands walks free
JAKARTA - A court has cleared a Muslim cleric of inciting violence between Muslims
and Christians, a decision which some see as a setback in the government's
attempts to tackle Muslim extremists and communal violence.
Forty-year-old cleric Jafaar Umar Thalib was accused of committing the offence while
leading the now-defunct Laskar Jihad militia in the Maluku islands, which have been
riven by Muslim-Christian violence.
The court in Jakarta also cleared him of inciting hatred against the government and
defaming President Megawati Sukarnoputri, reported the BBC.
Presiding judge Mansur Nasution, referring to Christian separatists, said Jafaar had
the right to freedom of speech and that anyone seeking to uphold Indonesia's unity
ought to be given awards.
The cleric, who travelled to Afghanistan in the late 1980s to fight Soviet forces, was
the first radical Islamic leader taken to court in the world's most heavily
Muslim-populated nation since Ms Megawati took power 18 months ago.
His acquittal came two days after two Christian separatist leaders were jailed for three
years for subversion during the Maluku islands violence, in which more than 5,000
people were killed. The court found the two guilty of inciting separatism rather than
violence.
After Jafaar's acquittal about 100 supporters shouted 'Allahu Akbar!'' (God is great).
He was arrested on May 4 last year following a speech in the eastern Maluku islands,
which prosecutors said was aimed at inciting hatred against the government.
He had reportedly implored Muslims 'to prepare our bombs, and ready our guns'.
Two days later, 13 people were killed in the Christian village of Soya.
Jafaar, who founded the Laskar Jihad in 1999, told reporters after the verdict: 'I hope
this is an attempt by the judge to uphold freedom of speech in defence of the state
and its people.'
Ms Sidney Jones, Indonesia director of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group,
said the ruling and the judge's comments would raise questions over whether Jakarta
was serious about tackling crime associated with radicalism.
'At the very least it's going to put more scrutiny than ever on the degree to which the
legal system can be relied upon,' she said.
Prosecutors had sought one year's jail for Jafaar, well below the maximum seven-year
penalty.
Laskar Jihad was Indonesia's best-known militant Muslim group until it disbanded
soon after the Bali blasts last year. It sent several thousand fighters to the Maluku
islands in mid-2000 to help Muslims fighting Christians there.
Muslims and Christians signed a peace deal last February but sporadic violence still
occurs.
No official reason was given for Laskar Jihad's disbandment, but there was
speculation that it was an attempt to avoid a prison sentence for Jafaar.
This was not his first brush with the law. In 2001, the police arrested him for presiding
over a makeshift Islamic court that ordered a rapist be stoned to death.
Jafaar allegedly led the execution himself, though he was never prosecuted. --Reuters
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