LAKSAMANA.Net, December 1, 2003 11:02 PM
Baasyir Cleared But Case Uncertain
Laksamana.Net - Lawyers representing radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir were
up in arms Monday as two key issues in the cleric's struggle aganist the state came
to a head. While they waited for official notification of the good news – that an
appeals court had cleared their client of treason – their frustration at Baasyir's
continued detention turned into threats of further legal action.
Baasyir's lawyers maintained throughout the day that their client should have been
released at the end of his current detention warrant, which expired at midnight last
night (30/11/03), and that another warrant from the Supreme Court was now
necessary to keep him in detention.
Meanwhile, news began filtering in that the Jakarta High Court had cleared Baasyir of
treason but had decided to uphold his conviction on lesser charges of forging identity
documents. Later reports maintained the court had also reduced his sentence from
four years to three years.
The cleric was convicted in a Jakarta district court in September of sedition and
treason in a plot to overthrow Indonesia's secular government but cleared of charges of
being the leader of the al-Qaeda linked Southeast Asia terror group Jemaah
Islamiyah.
Jemaah Islamiyah is accused of responsibility for the October 2002 Bali nightclub
bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. The group has also been
blamed for dozens of other terrorist attacks, including the August 2003 bomb blast
that killed 12 people at Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel.
At Salemba Prison early Monday morning, Baasyir's lawyer Mahendradatta confirmed
that the legal team had received no formal notification of the ruling, reported Antara.
Laksamana.net sources had indicated that the panel of judges in the case in fact
made their final ruling as far back as 10 November.
When contacted by detikcom late on Monday night, presiding judge Hasan Basri
Pase confirmed the terms of the ruling but declined to reveal the date on which it was
taken.
He did say, however, that the panel of judges had reached their final ruling prior to the
Lebaran week-long public holiday, which began on Monday 24 November, due to the
onset of the holiday and the imminent end of Baasyir's detention warrant.
Legal Entanglements
Confusion over the detention, High Court ruling and future course of action to be
pursued by Baasyir's lawyers and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) did not end
there.
Salemba Prison chief Haviluddin frustrated Baasyir's lawyers early in the day with his
tardy appearance for work following the extended public holiday but appeared later to
hand over a copy of the High Court ruling at 18.00 local time.
Another member of Baasyir's defense team, Achmad Michdan, said they wanted all
charges dropped and would appeal to the Supreme Court, reported AP.
The legal team was even less impressed by the failure to free their client and
threatened a range of action against the authorities.
According to Mahendradatta, Haviluddin maintained that Baasyir's continued detention
was legal because Salemba Prison authorities had already received notification from
the Jakarta district court that the AGO had filed for appeal at the Supreme Court
against the decision of the Jakarta High Court.
Mahendradatta continued to argue that only a formal order from the Supreme Court
could keep their client behind bars beyond the 30 November deadline.
In a state of agitation around midday Monday, Mahendradatta had told reporters that
the team would report the unlawful detention to the National Commission for Human
Rights (Komnas HAM).
Later in the day, the lawyer said that the team intended to file for a pre-trial hearing
and also sue the authorities over the detention matter, reported detikcom.
Mahendradatta conceded that they could not bring a claim against a court institution
under laws covering pre-trial hearings.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra now seems the likely target
of their two-pronged counter attack on the state authorities.
He said the legal team would begin working on their Supreme Court appeal to have all
the charges against their client dropped tomorrow and would begin preparing their new
cases within 2-3 days.
Baasyir Speaks
While the legal furor raged, Baasyir himself appeared resigned to his immediate fate
within Salemba Prison.
Early in the day, Baasyir told journalists that he could not comment on his continued
detention and had not considered what action to take on the matter.
After receiving the copy of the Jakarta High Court ruling, Baasyir faced reporters with
Mahendradatta and said that he "couldn't do much" about the situation but added that
a suitable legal recourse would surely be found.
"I don't know what that will be yet. I'm just handing it over to the lawyers," he said.
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