The Jakarta Post, April 19, 2004
Ba'asyir lobbies Muslims for support
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is seeking support from the country's Islamic
organizations as police ready a formal investigation into his alleged involvement in
several terror attacks here.
"The support from Muslim organizations serves as a social control, since the police
are likely to overreact in their handling of Uztad Abu's case because of pressure from
the U.S. in the absence of legal evidence," said Achmad Michdan, a member of
Ba'asyir's team of lawyers.
"The National Police are one of the country's law enforcement bodies -- they should
prove their professionalism by maintaining their neutrality and avoiding foreign
pressure," Achmad said.
Ba'asyir's team was lobbying Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Muhammadiyah and the
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to closely observe the police probe into their client. A
meeting with MUI executives had been arranged for Monday, he said.
Hidayat Nurwahid, the leader of the Prosperous Justice Party, visited Ba'asyir on
Saturday at the Salemba Penitentiary, where Ba'asyir is serving 18 months for
immigration violations.
Another Ba'asyir lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said Hidayat came to provide morale support
for his client.
Hidayat, whose party looks certain to finish among the top six in this year's legislative
election, also visited Ba'asyir when he was detained by police early last year.
"I am against terrorism and support the rule of law, but I object to any foreign
intervention. I am worried that those who blindly accuse others of being terrorists
without having evidence are the real radicals and terrorists," Hidayat said as quoted
by Reuters.
Ali said Ba'asyir would refuse to cooperate in any police interrogation.
He said the rejection was based on a strong belief the U.S. had intervened in the legal
process.
"Any approval to again detain my client for the purposes of an investigation will only
prove the U.S. intervention," Ali said.
Police had yet to elaborate on what cases (of terrorism) the cleric was allegedly
involved in and what roles he played in those cases, he said.
"It looks like (the police) are scrambling around, there is no clarity here," he said.
Police have named Ba'asyir as a terror suspect and will charge him with planning or
persuading others to commit acts of terror and assisting or abetting the commission
of acts of terror, crimes that carry a maximum death sentence according to Law No.
15/2003 on terrorism.
Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Sunday welcomed
Indonesia's moves to investigate Ba'asyir.
Downer described Ba'asyir as the spiritual leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked terror group
Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), responsible for the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202
people, including 88 Australians.
"The fact that the Indonesian police and other authorities are now looking at further
charges is encouraging. This is, of course, an internal matter for the Indonesians but
we have had quite considerable contact with Indonesian authorities over the last few
weeks on this matter," Downer said as quoted by AFP.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
