LAKSAMANA.Net, December 21, 2004 11:55 PM
Chaos Erupts as Witness Incriminates Baasyir
Laksamana.Net - Tempers flared at the terrorism trial of radical Islamic cleric Abu
Bakar Baasyir on Tuesday (21/12/04) when his supporters tried to attack a star
prosecution witness, who accused the defendant of leading regional terrorism network
Jemaah Islamiyah and meeting Osama bin Laden.
The melee started at the makeshift courtroom in South Jakarta at 12.25pm, when
Baasyir's lawyers chided Malaysian witness Mohammad Nasir Abbas, a
self-confessed former senior member of Jemaah Islamiyah, for his “uncooperative
attitude”.
Abbas, who served 10 months in jail in Jakarta for immigration offences and is now
apparently under police witness protection, had repeatedly replied "no comment"
when the lawyers cross-examined his testimony that Baasyir was Jemaah Islamiyah's
leader.
Scores of Baasyir’s supporters then stood up and began shouting insults at the
witness, accusing him of lying. Police had to whisk Abbas and the judges out of the
court when the mob attempted to storm the witness stand and the judges’ podium.
Proceedings were adjourned for one hour while police restored calm.
Baasyir is accused of inciting his followers to carry out the October 12, 2002, Bali
nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, and the August 5, 2003, bombing at
Jakarta’s JW Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people.
Since his trial started in October, several convicted and suspected terrorists brought
to South Jakarta District Court as prosecution witnesses have denied that Baasyir
ordered any terror attacks or was involved in Jemaah Islamiyah.
But Abbas said Jemaah Islamiyah’s former operations chief Hambali had in 1999 told
him that Baasyir was the group’s new leader.
He said Hambali had informed him of the appointment while they were both at Jemaah
Islamiyah’s Hudaibiyah terror training camp at Moro in the southern Philippines.
Abbas, who once fought in Afghanistan, said he believed Hambali's statement and
had passed it on to fellow Jemaah Islamiyah member Imron Baihaki, who is now
serving a seven-year jail sentence for illegal possession of weapons.
Testifying at the trial last week, Baihaki admitted that Abbas had informed him
Baasyir became the head of Jemaah Islamiyah following the death of the group’s
co-founder Abdullah Sungkar in 1999.
But Baihaki claimed that upon his return to Indonesia he was informed that Baasyir
was not the group’s leader. He also retracted an earlier statement that he had seen
the cleric at the camp.
Jihad Camp
Abbas told the court he had set up Jemaah Islamiyah’s Camp Hudaibiyah in the
1990s and served as one of its instructors.
He said Baasyir had visited the camp for “two or three days” in April 2000 to
address and inspect a graduation ceremony of 17 Indonesian recruits, who had
undergone military training for 18 months.
"We wanted this achievement, the first graduates, to be seen by Jemaah Islamiyah's
emir [spiritual leader]," Abbas was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"He reminded us that it was all for jihad and what we do on earth will be rewarded," he
added.
Abbas said that when one of the graduates had asked whether it was permitted to rob
ATMs of banks owned by "infidels", Baasyir replied: "Even their blood is halal
[permitted under Islamic law] and so is their wealth."
The witness also said Baasyir had given him money for Camp Hudaibiyah. "When I
went to his house in Ngruki, he gave me some funds for the Hudaibiyah camp," he
was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Ngruki, located on the outskirts of the Central Java city of Solo, is the home of
Baasyir’s Al-Mukmin Islamic Boarding School. Several convicted terrorists had
studied there.
Escorted by Former Student
Abbas said the late Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi had picked up
Baasyir at a Malaysian airport and taken him to the camp.
Al-Ghozi is a former student of Baasyir and a self-confessed member of Jemaah
Islamiyah. He was shot dead in the Philippines in October 2003 after escaping from a
Manila jail, where he was serving a 17-year sentence for possession of more than a
ton of explosives. Al-Ghozi had also admitted to involvement in the August 2000
bombing outside the Central Jakarta resident of former Philippine ambassador
Leonides Caday.
Osama bin Laden
Abbas said that while at the camp, Baasyir mentioned he had met with Osama bin
Laden in Afghanistan. The witness did not say when the alleged meeting took place
and judges did not ask him to provide a date.
Self-confessed Jemaah Islamiyah Muhammad Rais earlier this month testified that in
2001 he had delivered a message from bin Laden to Baasyir, inviting the cleric to live
in Afghanistan if he didn't feel secure in Indonesia.
Baasyir is a sworn admirer of bin Laden, praising him as a “true Muslim hero”, but
he denies having met with him or receiving any messages from him. He also denies
having ever visited Afghanistan.
Mantiqi 3 Regional Command
Abbas said that during a meeting with Baasyir in Solo in April 2001, the cleric had
personally installed him to replace Imron Baihaki as leader of Mantiqi 3 – one of
Jemaah Islamiyah's four regional commands.
As the leader of Mantiqi 3, Abbas was responsible for Jemaah Islamiyah’s
operations in the southern Philippines and parts of eastern Indonesia and Malaysia.
In response to Abbas’ testimony, Baasyir denied having made such an appointment.
"There was no inauguration like that. Right now is the first time I have seen him since
I returned from Malaysia in 1999,” he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news
portal.
Baasyir also denied having ever stated that taking the “wealth and blood” of infidels
was permitted. “I never made a statement like that. This is just more of the same of
their story telling.”
Short Answers
After providing lengthy answers to questions from the prosecution and the judges,
Abbas gave only curt responses when cross-examined by Baasyir’s lawyers.
When defense lawyer Mohammad Assegaf asked him to provide details of his current
residence and employment in Indonesia, Abbas simply replied: “No comment”.
Asked whether he possessed the necessary immigration documents to live in
Indonesia, the witness replied that it was the business of the Malaysian Embassy.
Asked why he had not returned to Malaysia after being released from an Indonesian
jail, he replied: “I still want to be in Indonesia."
When asked several questions about the exact location of Camp Hudaibiyah, he
replied “no comment” each time.
Assegaf then accused Abbas of not being cooperative, at which point the
courtroom’s sound system died, prompting the outburst from Baasyir’s supporters.
Presiding judge Sudarto did not even have time to bang his gavel as he and the other
judges fled from the court.
The trial is being held in an auditorium at the Agriculture Ministry for reasons of space
and security.
Protection Sought for Baihaki
Convicted militant Baihaki, who first testified at Baasyir’s trial on December 16, was
brought back to the witness stand on Tuesday to face new questions following the
testimony from Abbas.
Outside the court, Baihaki claimed that two days after his initial testimony police had
threatened to charge him with perjury.
"Last Saturday, I was interrogated by police over my testimony at the previous trial
session," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
Baihaki last week retracted his earlier statements to police that Baasyir was the
leader of Jemaah Islamiyah and had visited the Camp Hudaibiyah graduation
ceremony. He told the court his “false statements” were due to police pressure.
Defense lawyer Mahendradatta said he had asked the judges to protect Baihaki from
police intimidation.
Baihaki responded in the affirmative when Mahendradatta asked whether police had
threatened to charge him under Article 242 of the Criminal Code, which carries a
maximum jail sentence of seven years for perjury.
The lawyer pointed out that Baihaki could only be charged with perjury for lying in
court, and not for giving false statements to police.
"Under Article 242, you can be imprisoned for lying before the court, not [for lying] in
front of police. You keep that in mind,” said Mahendradatta.
"We asked the panel of judges to give protection to the witness, so the witness can
give information without any form of pressure,” he added.
Unruly Supporters
More than 300 of Baasyir’s supporters attended Tuesday’s trial session. All of them
were apparently members of the cleric’s Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), which
ostensibly aims to promote the adoption of strict Islamic law in secular Indonesia.
MMI official Muhammad Pudjo Sunarto, who organized the show of support for
Baasyir, said the men had been brought to Jakarta from several cities: Solo, Cirebon,
Yogyakarta, Tegal, Brebes, Tasikmalaya, Bandung, Indramayu and Garut.
The supporters began arriving at the court at 8am. After proceedings commenced at
9.15am, they started laughing, jeering and shouted "God is Great" during the
testimony of Abbas, despite being repeatedly told by the judges to calm down and
shut up.
Sunarto said the supporters were brought to Jakarta for two reasons. First, to observe
the testimony of Abbas; and second, to demonstrate outside the Malaysian
Embassy.
"This demonstration was carried out by us because 16 Indonesian Muslims have been
caught and tortured on charges of possessing weapons," he was quoted as saying by
detikcom.
Judges last month said they felt “terrorized” by the jeers and taunts from Baasyir’s
supporters, but the radicals are yet to be banned from the court.
In September, the supporters clashed with police guards when South Jakarta District
Court threw out Baasyir’s pre-trial lawsuit that claimed he had been wrongfully
arrested and detained on terrorism charges. None of them were arrested.
Absent Witnesses
In addition to Abbas, three other witnesses had been scheduled to testify on Tuesday
but did not show up.
I Putu Eka Mertawan, the former secretary of Bali’s Kuta district, declined to testify
on the grounds that he was preoccupied with his work.
Jemaah Islamiyah members Ali Imron and Mubarok, who are both serving life
sentences for their roles in the Bali bombings, also rejected summonses to testify. In
letters dated December 18 and read before the court by chief prosecutor Salman
Maryadi, the pair said they had testified at an earlier trial of Baasyir and had nothing
new to add to their previous testimonies.
"There have been no new developments in the matter that could be added to the
current trial," wrote Imron.
Baasyir was arrested on October 19, 2002, shortly after the Bali bombings. He was
brought to trial in April 2003 on charges of treason, authorizing bombings, immigration
offenses and falsifying identity documents.
He was found guilty only of immigration offenses and falsifying identity documents,
and served an 18-month jail sentence before being re-arrested under anti-terrorism
legislation in April 2004.
Police and prosecutors have said they have new evidence to prove he is the leader of
Jemaah Islamiyah.
More Witnesses Next Week
Baasyir’s trial is due to resume on December 28 to hear testimonies from several
suspected Jemaah Islamiyah members, including: Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana, a
Malaysian citizen being held in Singapore on terrorism charges; Hashim bin Abas,
who is also being held in Singapore; and Malaysian Wan Min bin Wan Mat, who is
being held in his home country.
Like Abbas, all three testified against Baasyir at his last trial, but their testimonies
were deemed insufficient to prove the cleric guilty of leading Jemaah Islamiyah.
Indonesia is yet to ban Jemaah Islamiyah, even though it was listed as a terrorist
group by the United Nations Security Council in October 2002 and subsequently
banned by many countries, including Australia, the US, Britain and Malaysia.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has vowed to get tough on terrorism, has
said he will ban Jemaah Islamiyah if there is "proof" the group exists in Indonesia.
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