LAKSAMANA.Net, November 11, 2004 09:38 PM
Baasyir's Holiday Request Rejected
Laksamana.Net - South Jakarta District Court has rejected radical Islamic cleric Abu
Bakar Baasyir's request to celebrate the upcoming Muslim holiday of Idul Fitri outside
his jail cell, where he is being detained during his ongoing terrorism trial.
Presiding judge Sudarto said Thursday (11/11/04) the request could not be granted
because it was still being deliberated by the five-member panel of judges.
"We are still considering this request because must we must listen to the other
members of the panel of judges before making a decision," he was quoted as saying
by detikcom online news portal.
Sudarto said the trial would resume on November 25, when the judges will decide
whether there are legal grounds to continue proceedings.
The post-Ramadhan holiday of Idul Fitri, when millions of Indonesians travel to their
hometowns to be with their families, this year falls over November 14-16.
Baasyir's lawyer Adnan Wirawan said the court had no valid reason to keep his client
detained. "Ustadz [religious teacher] continues to be held because of fears he will
destroy material evidence. But the fact is that the court has already seized the
material evidence. There are also fears he will try to escape, but we [lawyers] and his
family have given a guarantee that Ustadz will not escape."
Thursday's court session was relatively brief, commencing at 10am and concluding at
11.30am. The trial started on October 28 and is expected to end within five months.
Proceedings are taking place in an auditorium at the Agriculture Ministry in Ragunan,
South Jakarta, for reasons of security and space.
Jemaah Islamiyah & Terrorism
Baasyir (66) is accused of being the spiritual leader of regional terrorism network
Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed for the October 2002 Bali nightclub
bombings that killed 202 people, and the August 2003 blast at Jakarta's JW Marriott
Hotel that killed 12 people.
Prosecutors have charged him with several offenses under Law No.16/2003 on
Anti-Terrorism and under the Criminal Code.
He is charged with: planning and/or inciting acts of terrorism; using his position to
influence and/or persuade others to commit acts of terrorism; conspiring to commit
acts of terrorism; deliberately assisting terrorists; and withholding information on acts
of terrorism.
The anti-terror law was used to charge him in relation to the Marriott bombing, the
establishment of a terrorism training camp at Mindanao in the southern Philippines,
and the discovery of a cache of explosives in Central Java in July.
Baasyir could not be charged over the Bali bombings attacks under the anti-terror
legislation because the Constitutional Court in July ruled that the law cannot be
applied retroactively.
Instead, the prosecution used the Criminal Code to charge him over the Bali attacks.
Prosecutors said he was part of a "sinister conspiracy" behind the bombings and that
in August 2002 he gave one of the bombers, Amrozi, tacit approval to carry out the
plan.
If convicted of the terrorism offenses he could face the death penalty. If convicted
under the Criminal Code he could face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Same Case?
Baasyir was detained shortly after the Bali bombings. In September 2003, Central
Jakarta District Court sentenced him to four years in jail for treason, immigration
violations and forging documents. But the court said he was not guilty of leading
Jemaah Islamiyah or masterminding a plot to use religious violence to overthrow the
government.
Jakarta High Court later overturned the cleric's treason conviction and reduced his jail
sentence to three years. In March 2004, the Supreme Court further reduced the
sentence to one and a half years.
Baasyir has consistently denied any wrongdoing, claiming the latest charges against
him were trumped up by US President George W. Bush and "his slave" Australian
Prime Minister John Howard in an effort to discredit Islam.
During Thursday's session, public prosecutor Salman Maryadi read out his rebuttal to
last week's argument from defense lawyers that the trial should be abandoned on the
legal principle that a person cannot be tried twice in the same case.
"We are not of the same opinion, because the case was previously about treason,
whereas it is now about terrorism," said Maryadi, adding the judges should reject the
defense argument and accept the prosecution's charges.
He also said there was sufficient evidence to convict Baasyir, including testimonies
from Jemaah Islamiyah members detained in Singapore and Malaysia.
The defense lawyers had argued the trial must be ceased because evidence linking
Baasyir to terrorism and naming him as the head of Jemaah Islamiyah had been
rejected in last year's trial.
Courtroom Drama
There was minor drama in the makeshift courtroom when one of Baasyir's supporters
was detained by police for attempting to bring in a knife and a screwdriver. Local
media reports identified the man as 35-year-old Abu Bakar Floresi.
Further drama occurred when dozens of Baasyir's supporters screamed "despots"
and "God is Great" at the judges and prosecutors when the cleric's request for release
over Idul Fitri was rejected.
Sudarto responded to the outburst by ordering the radicals to be silent. "I ask you to
be quiet. I want order in this courtroom. I know better than you and you are not
qualified lawyers," he was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.
Baasyir himself then addressed his supporters, asking them to refrain from further
outbursts. "I heard you prayed for the court to be condemned. Please maintain order
and don't use rude words," he was quoted as saying by AAP.
Most of the supporters were members of Baasyir's Indonesian Mujahidin Council.
Several of them wore masks and jackets marking them as holy fighters.
Before and after the trial session, the supporters protested outside the court under the
watchful eye of about 100 police.
Baasyir's supporters clashed with police in September when South Jakarta District
Court threw out the cleric's pre-trial lawsuit that claimed he had been wrongfully
arrested and detained.
The violence was sparked when one of the radicals took off his sandal and threw it at
the judges.
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