VOA News, 01 Dec 2003, 11:35 UTC
Bashir Acquitted of Treason Charges
Tim Johnston - Jakarta
An appeals court in the Indonesian capital has acquitted of treason charges the
Muslim cleric accused of leading a regional terrorist organization. Abu Bakar Bashir
was convicted in September of inciting rebellion against the government and
sentenced to four years in prison. He has maintained his innocence, saying that he
was merely campaigning to implement Islamic Sharia law in Indonesia.
On Monday, an appeals court agreed, but it upheld the Muslim cleric's conviction and
three year sentence for forgery and immigration offenses.
Bashir is accused of being the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, or JI, a regional
terrorist group with strong links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network. But at his
original trial in September, the court cleared him of charges related to JI.
Sidney Jones is the head of the International Crisis Group in Jakarta and studies
Islamic militancy in Southeast Asia. She says the appeals court decision sends a
poor symbolic message - and shows that Indonesian courts may not be willing to
make a case against JI. "It was clear, even from the evidence presented at his original
trial, that he was the head of Jemaah Islamiyah" she says. "It [the verdict] raises
questions again about the whole validity of the government's case against Jemaah
Islamiyah."
Bashir is the founder of an Islamic boarding school notorious for turning out terrorists,
including at least five of those found guilty of involvement in last year's deadly bombing
on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Bashir has been in prison since September but has continued his militant comments
from behind bars. In an essay circulated at the end of the Muslim fasting month of
Ramadan last week, Bashir called on Muslims to rise up and oppose what he
described as the Zionist Jews and the extremist Christians from America.
Analysts warn that JI still has the power to carry out large attacks in Southeast Asia
despite the arrest of hundreds of suspected members around the region.
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