LAKSAMANA.Net, February 8, 2005 11:40 PM
Prosecutors Seek 8-Year Sentence for Baasyir
Laksamana.Net - In a move that could raise doubts over Indonesia's commitment to
the war on terror, state prosecutors have abandoned plans to seek life imprisonment
or the death penalty for radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir, who is accused of
responsibility for the Bali nightclub bombings and a bomb blast at Jakarta's JW
Marriott Hotel.
Chief prosecutor Salman Maryadi on Tuesday (8/2/05) told South Jakarta District
Court he could not demand the maximum penalty because there was insufficient
evidence to prove the primary charge that Baasyir (66) and his supporters had planned
or incited others to carry out the terror attacks.
Instead he recommended that Baasyir be sentenced to eight years in jail for "indirect
involvement” in acts of terrorism that endangered lives, caused the loss of lives and
injured people.
Reading from the prosecution's 320-page indictment, he said Baasyir had convincingly
and legally been proven guilty of having engaged in the crime of terrorism, resulting in
widespread public fear that damaged the national economy and tarnished Indonesia's
image.
"The defendant is proven guilty of carrying out terror acts as stipulated in the law...
and proven guilty of causing the fires [in Bali] which caused the deaths," Maryadi was
quoted as saying by Reuters.
He said although Baasyir was not present at the locations where the bombings
occurred, he had been aware of the plans and did nothing to stop the perpetrators
from carrying out the attacks.
"We demand eight years in jail, minus the time the defendant has been held in
detention,” he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
"Extenuating circumstances are the defendant's polite and cooperative attitude during
the trial and his advanced age,” he added.
Maryadi urged the judges to reject a request by defense lawyers to immediately
release Baasyir from jail, saying he should remain in detention until a final verdict is
reached.
Baasyir, whose trial started in October, was charged with inciting his followers to
carry out the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people and the
August 2003 blast that killed 12 people at Jakarta's Marriott Hotel.
Prosecutors also say he visited a military training camp of regional terrorism network
Jemaah Islamiyah in the southern Philippines in April 2000 and passed on an edict
from Osama bin Laden calling for killings of Americans and their allies.
Baasyir has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and claimed he is being tried at the
behest of the US and Australia.
Prosecutors have suffered numerous setbacks, as only a couple of the more than 40
witnesses have linked Baasyir to the attacks. Nearly all of the convicted bombers
summoned to testify withdrew their earlier statements incriminating the cleric or
refused to give evidence.
The strongest testimony has come from Malaysian citizen Mohammad Nasir Abbas,
a self-confessed former senior member of Jemaah Islamiyah. He said the defendant
had led Jemaah Islamiyah and met with bin Laden. His testimony enraged Baasyir's
unruly supporters, who attempted to storm the witness stand and judges' podium.
Muhammad Rais, another self-confessed Jemaah Islamiyah member, testified he had
delivered a message in 2001 from bin Laden to Baasyir, inviting him to live in
Afghanistan if he didn't feel secure in Indonesia. He told the court he believed the
Marriott bombing was inspired by bin Laden.
Bambang Tetuko, a university lecturer from the Central Java capital of Semarang and
a former Jemaah Islamiyah treasurer, told the court he was certain that Baasyir was
Jemaah Islamiyah's spiritual leader.
Baasyir was arrested shortly after the Bali bombings, which he said were perpetrated
by Americans and Jews to justify claims that Indonesia is a terrorist haven. He was
acquitted in 2003 of leading Jemaah Islamiyah and released from jail in April 2004
after serving an 18-month sentence for immigration violations and forging documents.
He was immediately re-arrested by police, who said they had new evidence linking
him to terrorism.
Indonesia is yet to ban Jemaah Islamiyah, even though it was listed as a terrorist
group by the United Nations Security Council in October 2002 and subsequently
banned by many countries, including Australia, the US, Britain and Malaysia.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has vowed to get tough on terrorism, has
said he will ban Jemaah Islamiyah if there is "proof" the group exists in Indonesia.
Authorities have already convicted 33 people over the Bali bombings and at least 10
over the Marriott bombing, with sentences ranging from three years to the death
penalty.
Protest
About 300 of Baasyir's supporters in the courtroom on Tuesday protested the
recommended eight-year jail sentence. "Prosecutors are cruel," they shouted.
"The demand from prosecutors is outrageous... they seemed to disregard testimonials
from witnesses who were supportive to Baasyir," Fauzan Al-Anshari, a member of
Baasyir's Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Baasyir has been made an icon of terrorism in Indonesia to enable the US to intervene
in Indonesia, he said. But if the cleric is acquitted, the issue of terrorism in Indonesia
would be disproved, he added.
Al-Anshari said MMI planned to demonstrate at the Supreme Court to demand the
cleric be immediately released.
Baasyir himself rejected the sentence demand as "illogical” and due to "pressure”
from the US.
Political analyst Budiman Sudjatmiko, former leader of the People's Democratic Party
(PRD), said that if Baasyir is proven guilty of terrorism, then the sentence is
insufficient and would not give a sense of justice to the victims of the attacks.
Chief defense lawyer Mohammad Assegaf expressed shock over the sentence
demand, saying the prosecution had manipulated witness testimonies and slandered
Baasyir.
He said the demand was based only on information taken from interrogation records of
various witnesses and did not thoroughly consider their testimonies made during the
trial.
"Under Indonesia's anti-terror laws, the minimum sentence is four years, the
maximum sentence is the death penalty or life imprisonment. If the prosecution is
confident Abu Bakar Baasyir is guilty of his crimes, the sentence being sought should
be more than eight years. This shows the prosecutors are themselves doubtful [of
their own charges]," he was quoted as saying by Channel NewsAsia.
Assegaf predicted Baasyir would be given a light sentence, equivalent to the amount
of time he has spent in jail since his arrest in April, which means he would freed once
a verdict is reached.
Another of Baasyir's lawyers, Wirawan Adnan, said the prosecution should not have
asked for an eight-year sentence because it had failed to prove its case.
"First of all my opinion to that is it's not realistic, it's groundless and I believe it's
ridiculous because really what happened is the prosecution could not prove anything.
We believe that there was insufficient evidence to support that kind of demand," he
was quoted as saying by Voice of America's online edition.
Adnan said he believed Baasyir would not be acquitted but instead given a light
sentence. "What I think is they probably could give Abu Bakar Baasyir a lighter
sentence than, a lot less than what the prosecutor is demanding, but they will not
acquit Abu Bakar Baasyir," he said.
"This is just something they have come up with to save face. They could not go on
with the death penalty charges," he was quoted as saying by The Australian daily.
The trial will resume on February 17, when the defense will present its final
arguments.
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