LAKSAMANA.Net, March 4, 2005 02:36 PM
Baasyir's 30 Month Sentence Criticized
Laksamana.Net - Opponents and supporters of radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar
Baasyir have criticized his 30 month jail sentence for involvement in a "sinister
conspiracy" that led to the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202
people.
The US, Australian and New Zealand governments all expressed disappointment with
the verdict, handed down on Thursday (3/3/05) by South Jakarta District Court, saying
it was too lenient.
Baasyir's supporters condemned the verdict, saying it was unfounded and merely an
effort to save face for the police and the prosecution, which had presented a weak
case. The cleric's lawyers said the conviction was politically motivated and expressed
confidence it will be overturned on appeal.
State prosecutors, who had sought a jail sentence of eight years, have also said they
will appeal.
Presiding judge Sudarto ruled Baasyir had been "proven legally and convincingly to
have committed the crime of evil conspiracy that caused a fire that left other people
dead".
But the five-member panel of judges cleared Baasyir (66) of five other charges,
including allegations that as head of regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah he
had incited his followers to launch terrorist attacks and had planned the August 2003
suicide bombing at Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people.
He was also cleared of accusations that he visited a Jemaah Islamiyah military
training camp in the southern Philippines in April 2000 and had passed on an edict
from Osama bin Laden calling for killings of Americans and their allies.
The cleric faced the death penalty over several of the seven charges, but most
analysts had predicted he would receive only a minor sentence as the prosecution
had produced only a couple of witnesses had identified his Jemaah Islamiyah's leader.
Nearly all of the convicted bombers summoned to testify withdrew earlier statements
incriminating the cleric or refused to give evidence.
Judges said Baasyir's conviction was based on a police record that convicted Bali
bombers Mubarok and Amrozi had met with the cleric at his house in Solo, Central
Java, in August 2002 and asked for permission to carry out an "event" in Bali.
"The defendant has been proved to have replied 'It's up to you, because you are the
ones who know the situation in the field'," said Sudarto.
Baasyir's lawyers said the alleged conversation proved nothing and should not have
been accepted as evidence because it was never tested during the trial.
Mubarok had refused to answer questions when he appeared as a witness, while
Amrozi did not appear at the trial. A request by Baasyir's lawyers to produce Amrozi
as a witness had been denied by the court.
Baasyir has always denied any wrongdoing and claimed his trial was held at the
behest of the US and its allies because they opposed his campaign for Islamic law in
secular Indonesia.
"I'm being oppressed by people from abroad and at home. They consider Islamic law
to be a shackle and are slaves to immoral behavior. Allah, open their hearts or destroy
them," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press after his trial concluded.
Baasyir was arrested shortly after the Bali bombings. He was tried at Central Jakarta
District Court in 2003, accused of treason, leading Jemaah Islamiyah, authorizing
bombings, violating immigration regulations and falsifying identity documents. He was
cleared of the terror-related charges and served 18 months in jail for immigration
violations and forging documents. He was immediately re-arrested upon his release in
April 2004 and accused of the Marriott and Bali bombings. Having already spent 10
months behind bars pending his most recent trial, he could be released by October
2006, or even earlier if his appeal succeeds.
US Reaction
The US State Department on Thursday said it was disturbed and disappointed by
Baasyir's "relatively brief sentence".
Following is the transcript of comments by State Department spokesman Richard
Boucher in press briefing at the White House.
QUESTION: Do you have any comment on the terrorist conviction in Indonesia today?
BOUCHER: First let me say we respect the independence of Indonesia's courts and
we welcome the conviction of this known terrorist leader. He was convicted on
charges of conspiracy to cause death and destruction in connection with the Bali
bombing.
We do note that Indonesia has prosecuted and convicted more than 100 terrorists
since the Bali bombings. Nonetheless, I have to say we are disappointed with the
results of this trial. We believe these results are not commensurate with Baasyir's
culpability. During the trial the prosecutors presented substantial evidence, which we
found convincing, of Baasyir's involvement in terrorism, and in particular therefore we
are disturbed by the message sent by the relatively brief sentence. He was convicted,
as I said, on the charge of conspiracy and we think that the possibility that someone,
that the person responsible for these bombings, could go free after a sentence of only
30 months is indeed cause for concern.
At the same time, I want to repeat we have respect for the Indonesian judicial system.
It was the decision of the Indonesian court during the trial and we note that both
parties will likely appeal the ruling so it may not be the final ruling.
QUESTION: Do you think it's – the outcome of this is a shortcoming of the laws that
Indonesia has to deal with those issues and cases, or do you think it was a judiciary
matter and the judge who decided on this?
BOUCHER: I, frankly, can't give you that detailed of an analysis at this point. It's a
good question. I think we will have to see how this works its way through the
Indonesian judicial system, what happens subsequently on appeal, and see what it
produces in the end.
QUESTION: Well, you have had over the past couple of years, even with the previous
government of Indonesia, some concerns about their way of dealing with terrorism and
the people who are responsible for terrorist acts, including legislation in Indonesia.
Have your concerns been answered so far?
BOUCHER: Well, as I said, we've been relatively – well, we've been satisfied to note
that Indonesia has indeed prosecuted and convicted more than 100 terrorists since
the Bali bombing. So in that space of time, there has indeed been a stronger effort,
been some real results coming out of the court system.
But at this point on this particular trial, I'm not prepared to reverse those conclusions
or draw sweeping conclusions, just at this point note the concern that we have,
disappointment that we have about the particular sentence, and then see where it
goes from here in the Indonesian judicial system.
QUESTION: Do you believe that the Indonesian judiciary system is completely
independent of the executive branch?
BOUCHER: Again, I'd refer you probably to the Human Rights Report. That question
requires a fair amount of discussion. But I think the simple answer is more or less,
yes, we are convinced that they have an increasingly independent judicial system,
one that can stand on its own merits and stand on its own feet.
QUESTION: There was a State Department-contracted translator who testified in
defense of Baasyir; he was a defense witness. And I'm wondering if you guys have a
comment on that. He basically bolstered the defense's case that U.S. pressured
Baasyir's arrest, and he talked about a secret meeting that he had translated between
--
BOUCHER: I wasn't aware of that. I'm not sure we would have anything to say about
–
QUESTION: Can you check on that?
BOUCHER: – meetings. And you say this person was a contractor and therefore not
a direct State Department employee.
QUESTION: It was Fred Burks. He worked under contract in the State Department for
18 years.
BOUCHER: I'll have to check and see if we have anything to say about his testimony
or his status. But it doesn't sound like he was a direct employee.
QUESTION: He wasn't.
BOUCHER: Okay.
Australian Reaction
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer expressed disappointment that
Baasyir could walk free within 20 months and urged Indonesian prosecutors to appeal
the two-and-a-half-year sentence.
Downer said Australia regards Baasyir as the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah and
therefore holds him responsible for the Bali bombings, in which 88 Australians were
killed.
"It's satisfying that he has been convicted [but] it's disappointing that the sentence is
just for two-and-a-half years… We'd have liked a longer sentence, and we would hope
that the prosecution might consider appealing against the sentence," he was quoted
as saying by Agence France-Presse.
He said he had ordered the Australian Embassy in Jakarta to question the sentence
with Indonesian authorities.
Australia's opposition leader Kim Beazley said Baasyir should have received a life
sentence. "This man should spend the rest of his miserable life in jail and the
Australian government should be doing what it can to put pressure on for an appeal to
extend his sentence," he was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.
"He has been convicted of a conspiracy that involved the killing of a large number of
Australians and others and Indonesians. People who do that should spend their lives
in jail," he added.
But Beazley said he did not blame the Indonesian government for the lenient
sentence. "I think the Indonesian government is as horrified as we are," he said.
Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Keelty on Friday warned that Baasyir's
conviction might prompt his supporters to stage new terror attacks.
"We were concerned about this at the time of his arrest because he is such a
significant figure. We will need to listen to the intelligence agencies and no doubt they
will be doing updated threat assessments today in light of the conviction," he told
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio.
Keelty said that although the length of the sentence was disappointing and "may
cause some concern to the victims and their families", but the fact that there was a
conviction was "a real milestone".
He said he had no doubt that Baasyir was deeply implicated in Jemaah Islamiyah and
the Bali bombings.
New Zealand Reaction
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff on Friday said Baasyir's light sentence
was "unfortunate" and would leave many people dissatisfied.
He said if the evidence put forward by the prosecutors was correct, Baasyir deserved
a much longer sentence.
Goff said he supported calls for an appeal to extend the duration of the sentence.
Three New Zealanders were killed in the Bali bombings.
New Zealand's National Party leader Don Brash called on his government to urgently
recall its ambassador to Indonesia for consultations in protest at Baasyir's "pathetic"
sentence.
"Frankly, such a puny sentence for such an horrific crime is pathetic and may only
serve to encourage terrorists. Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff should immediately
recall Ambassador Chris Elder for consultations as a protest," he said in a press
statement.
"Unfortunately, Mr Goff's response so far has been about as weak as the sentence,
so I am not expecting much. But New Zealand must be prepared to show its disgust,"
he added.
Indonesia Urges Respect for Verdict
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa on Friday called for
an end to the criticism over Baasyir's sentence, saying foreign governments should
respect the verdict.
"Indonesia is a democracy where we have to respect the judicial process. Our
position has always been one of full respect of the judicial process. That also includes
the matter of sentences," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
He said neither the US nor Australia had contacted Jakarta to complain, adding the
prosecution needed time to decide whether to appeal against the verdict. "This is
purely a legal process and we don't expect any communication that is
intergovernmental in nature," he added.
Natalegawa pointed out that Indonesia had brought its terrorism suspects to court,
unlike certain other countries. "I know of many far more high profile cases where the
perpetrators are still at large, or if they have been caught remain incarcerated without
any proper trial," he said in a reference to the US.
Defense Appeal
Baasyir's lawyers said they would submit a request to Jakarta High Court and the
Supreme Court for a judicial review of the verdict if their appeal is turned down.
One of the lawyers, Adnan Wirawan, said the court's use of Mubarok's statement to
police was illegal because it had not been tested during the trial.
The deputy head of Baasyir's defense team, Mahendradatta, said the judges were
guilty of misconduct because they had not allowed Amrozi to be produced as a
witness.
"In fact, Amrozi was prepared to become a witness, that was expressed when the
defense team met with him in Bali," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online
news portal.
"It's not true that I did not want to be a witness. I wanted to be a witness,"
Mahendradatta quoted Amrozi as saying.
The lawyers are confident Baasyir's name will be cleared as they successfully had his
sentence reduced in stages after his earlier conviction in 2003.
Sidney Jones, South East Asia project director for the International Crisis Group, told
ABC Radio it was possible Baasyir would be acquitted on appeal.
"I think it is a token conviction and I think there's a possibility that he will be fully
acquitted on appeal. We'll have to see. So the maximum that he'll be in prison is until
the end of next year. My guess is that he'll be out much sooner," she said.
She said it had been difficult for authorities to prove the terror charges against Baasyir
because he was no longer a significant figure Jemaah Islamiyah's daily operations by
the time of the Bali bombings.
"It was difficult from the very beginning to link him to Bali in a direct way, partly
because he'd already pulled back from the day to day operations of JI by that stage,
and even if he overheard one conversation or he was involved in one conversation, it's
a long way from knowing about that conversation to actually convicting him of direct
involvement in the bombing. And it's even more difficult to link him to bombings that
took place after he was already detained, which was what the prosecutors tried to do
by linking him to the Marriott bombing which took place in August 2003, by which
time he'd already been in prison for about 10 months," she said.
Jones said it was surprising that Baasyir had even brought to trial due to legal
constraints facing the prosecution. "The prosecutors were trying to do the impossible.
They were trying to get beyond the constraints imposed by a Constitutional Court
decision which limited the ability to use the anti-terrorism legislation, and yet to try
and find Baasyir guilty of acts of violence, including ones which took place after he
was already detained. And that would have been an uphill battle for any prosecution in
the world. The surprising thing is that they even tried."
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