LAKSAMANA.Net, October 16, 2004 01:08 AM
Baasyir Charged Over Marriott Bombing
Laksamana.Net - Prosecutors have charged radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir
with involvement in last year's suicide car bombing at the JW Marriott Hotel in South
Jakarta.
The 65-page indictment and thousands of pages of evidence was filed at South
Jakarta District Court on Friday (15/10/04).
The trial is expected to begin within about two weeks. But Baasyir's lawyers have
demanded the trial be delayed until the end of Ramadhan. The Muslim fasting month
started Friday and will conclude on November 15.
Baasyir could face the death penalty under Indonesia's anti-terrorism law if convicted
of involvement in the August 2003 blast that killed 11 Indonesians and a Dutch
banker.
The 66-year-old cleric is accused of leading regional terrorism network Jemaah
Islamiyah, which has been blamed for the bombing of the US-franchised hotel and a
string of other attacks.
He is also accused of giving assistance to terrorists, involvement in a conspiracy to
hide explosives in Central Java, and withholding information about terrorist acts.
South Jakarta District Court official Yunda Hasbi was quoted by Agence
France-Presse as saying Baasyir was "implicated in the Marriott bombing" as well as
other bombings, but not the October 2002 Bali nightclub attacks that killed 202
people.
He said the indictment accuses the cleric of planning or inspiring others to terrorism
or helping them carry out an "explosion which endangered or cost the lives of others".
Due to security concerns and the large crowds expected, the trial will not be held at
South Jakarta District Court, but at a reception hall in the Agriculture Ministry
complex. The same venue was used for the abortive corruption trial of former dictator
Suharto in 2000. The case was dropped after the ex-president's lawyers and doctors
argued he was suffering brain damage.
Achmad Michdan, one of Baasyir's lawyers, said the trial should not be held over
Ramadhan because Muslims are required to rest during daylight hours of the fasting
month.
"We are now entering the fasting month. We should respect it ... and postpone the
trial," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Baasyir, who was arrested shortly after the Bali bombings, has consistently denied
involvement in any terrorist acts. He has also denied the existence of Jemaah
Islamiyah, claiming it was invented by the US to discredit Islam.
Another of Baasyir's lawyers, Achmad Wirawan Adnan, said he was not expecting his
client to get a fair trial. "We believe that the prosecutor does not have a case. But this
is a political matter. He's going to be in jail no matter what. At the time when the
Marriott bombing took place, he has a strong alibi, because he [was] detained," he
was quoted as saying by Voice of America News.
Landry Subianto of the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies
said the prosecution must produce strong evidence to convince Indonesians that
Baasyir is involved in terrorism.
"Without very convincing evidence about the direct or indirect involvement of Abu
Bakar Baasyir, I think that would also create another credibility problem, especially in
front of the Islamic audience," he was quoted as saying by VOA News.
Authorities have had to drop charges that Baasyir was allegedly involved in the Bali
bombings after the Constitutional Court in July ruled that Law No.16/2003 on
Terrorism could not be used retroactively.
Instead, the cleric has been charged with violating articles 14, 15, 17 and 18 of Law
No.15/2003 on Terrorism, which does not cover retroactive cases. He has also been
charged under the Criminal Code.
The five judges who will preside over Baasyir's trial will be selected on Monday.
Jemaah Islamiyah
Baasyir was first arrested back in 1978 and sentenced to nine years in jail for
subversion for links to two outlawed Islamic militia groups. He was released from
prison in 1982 and fled to Malaysia in 1985 to escape further charges. It was while in
Malaysia that he allegedly co-founded Jemaah Islamiyah.
He returned to Indonesia following the May 1998 resignation of former president
Suharto and resumed his role as head of the Al-Mukmin Islamic Boarding School in
Ngruki, near Solo.
Police arrested Baasyir on October 19, 2002, in the aftermath of the Bali bombings,
but authorities at that time were unable to produce any hard evidence linking him to
the attacks.
Although an avowed supporter of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the cleric has
consistently denied any involvement in Jemaah Islamiyah and insists all of the
accusations against him are part of a US-led conspiracy to discredit Islam.
In September 2003, Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Baasyir to four years in
prison 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.
In December 2003, Jakarta High Court announced it had 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.
The sentence reductions meant the cleric was released on April 30 - at which point
police immediately re-arrested him, citing new evidence to charge him with leading
Jemaah Islamiyah.
Bombs Seized After Explosion
Police on Friday said they have found two bombs at a house in West Java province
and suspect the explosives belonged to terrorist suspects who remain at large.
National Police chief General Dai Bachtiar was quoted by German news agency DPA
as saying the bombs, placed into two backpacks, were found after a powerful blast on
Thursday night at the house in Cianjur city.
Four unidentified men were wounded in the explosion and quickly left the house,
telling neighbors the blast came from a kerosene stove.
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