The Jakarta Post, December 04, 2003
I was temporary JI leader: Defendant Abu Rusydan
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The defendant in a trial related to the Bali bombings told the court on Wednesday that
he was asked by those attending a meeting in April 2002 to replace Islamic cleric Abu
Bakar Ba'asyir as the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) operations leader.
Ba'asyir, 64, had his four-year sentence reduced to a three-year jail term by the
Jakarta High Court on Monday for immigration offenses and document forgery. The
High Court judges overturned the lower court's verdict, which had convicted him of
treason for his alleged leadership of JI. The JI is on the United Nations' list of regional
terrorist networks.
Defendant Abu Rusydan, who is charged with concealing information on planned
terrorist acts, earlier acknowledged that he was a JI member. But he told the South
Jakarta District Court that he turned down the request to become JI's leader. The
request was made at a meeting held at Villa Setia in the Puncak hill resort, West
Java, in April 2002.
"Since I don't know who the real leader of the JI was, I refused to accede to the
request to replace Ba'asyir. How is it possible that I wouldn't know that Ba'asyir was
the JI leader when I was very close to him?" said Rusydan.
But he added he accepted the position of interim operations leader in October 2002.
The meeting, which was held after the arrest of Ba'asyir, was also attended by Ali
Gufron alias Mukhlas. The latter is now serving a life sentence for his role in the
bombings in the crowded tourist resort of Kuta on Oct. 12 2002, which killed at least
202 people.
During Wednesday's hearing, Rusydan acknowledged that Ali Gufron was also
present at two other meetings of JI members -- one held on Oct. 17, 2002, five days
after the bombings, at the Al Risyad hotel in Tawang Mangu, Karanganyar in Central
Java -- and the other held in April 2003 at Villa Para in Puncak.
Prosecutors have accused Rusydan of knowing that Ali Gufron was one of the Bali
bombers and of failing to inform the police of Ali's whereabouts.
However, Rusydan denied that he had heard Ali Gufron make any mention of the Bali
bombings during those meetings.
Rusydan was responding to testimony given by two witnesses during Wednesday's
hearing.
Witness Mustofa, who also admitted to being a JI member, said he was present at
the October meeting and that he overheard Ali Gufron say during a break that "We are
the Bali bombers".
Mustofa's testimony could incriminate Rusydan, who has been charged under Article
13c of Regulation in Lieu of Law No.1/2002 with withholding evidence on terrorist
activities. Rusydan could face a minimum sentence of three years in prison and a
maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted.
Another witness, Sutikno, claimed that he worked for the JI secretariat. He testified
that he had never heard Ali Gufron claim to be a Bali bomber.
In his earlier defense, Rusydan had denied membership of JI, but eventually admitted
he was a member on Wednesday, explaining that he was appointed interim
operations leader at the second meeting. He said he had agreed under two
conditions.
The first was that he refused to be involved in any violent activities planned by JI,
which the witnesses in Rusydan's trial say is not an organization with statutes, but
rather a "congregation" (jamaah). The second condition was that he would only serve
as temporary leader until JI members agreed unanimously on a leader.
Rusydan maintained that JI could not be linked to terrorism, as its activities were
based on Islamic law.
The Jakarta office of the International Crisis Group (ICG) released a study this year on
JI, which has also been blamed for the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on
Aug. 5, which claimed 12 lives. The research group said that JI members are
well-trained in bomb-making and the use of firearms.
Presiding Judge Mahmoud Rahimi adjourned the hearing until Dec. 8 to hear two other
witnesses.
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