LAKSAMANA.Net, February 17, 2005 09:30 PM
Baasyir Proclaims Innocence, Blames Bush
Laksamana.Net - Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir has again denied charges
of leading regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah and involvement in bombings,
claiming US President George W. Bush was behind the accusations.
Baasyir is accused of inspiring his followers to carry out the October 2002 Bali
nightclub bombings that killed 202 people and the August 2003 bombing at Jakarta's
J.W. Marriott Hotel that killed 12.
Prosecutors last week recommended he be sentenced to eight years in jail, admitting
they had insufficient evidence to seek the death penalty because they could not prove
that Baasyir and his supporters had planned the attacks.
Since his terrorism trial commenced in November, Baasyir has repeatedly denied any
wrongdoing, saying he was being tried at the behest of Bush and his allies.
Appearing in South Jakarta District Court on Thursday (17/2/05) as his defense
lawyers presented their final arguments, he said Bush had pressured the Indonesian
government to jail him or hand him over to the US.
"My arrest, detention and trial was ordered by George Bush and his henchmen
because of my struggle to uphold Islamic law in Indonesia," he was quoted as saying
by the Associated Press.
"The charges against me are not true. I never ordered other people to carry out the
Bali bombing nor the J.W. Marriott bombings," he added.
Baasyir said he was being victimized because of his campaign for the implementation
of Islamic shariah law in secular Indonesia. "My sermons have made America under
George W. Bush and his acolytes afraid and feel uneasy," he was quoted as saying
by Agence France-Presse.
"I'm sure that this case has been fabricated by George W. Bush and his acolytes to
undermine Islamic shariah from inside," he said.
He also denied an accusation that he attended a military training camp of 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.
The cleric accused the US of conducting a "cunning" campaign to impose its values
on Muslims throughout the world. "They are not only doing it in Indonesia but also in
Afghanistan by destroying the Taliban regime which established Islamic shariah. They
are doing it in Iraq by killing Muslim men, women and children," he was quoted as
saying by AFP.
Baasyir was in 1978 convicted of subversion and sentenced to nine years in jail for
links to two Islamic militia groups – Komando Jihad and Darul Islam – accused of
seeking to establish an Islamic state. He was also convicted of distributing
"inflammatory" literature calling for jihad against enemies of Islam. Komando Jihad
and Darul Islam allegedly obtained covert backing from former dictator Suharto's
intelligence chief Ali Murtopo in an effort to identify and then discredit proponents of
radical Islam.
In 1982 Baasyir was released from jail after serving nearly four years of his subversion
sentence. He continued his work underground for the cause of establishing Islamic
law in Indonesia, but fled to Malaysia in 1985 to escape further imprisonment. It was
there that he allegedly co-founded Jemaah Islamiyah with fellow Indonesian cleric
Abdullah Sungkar. He also allegedly met with an Afghanistan War veteran from West
Java called Hambali, who went on to become operational commander of Jemaah
Islamiyah.
Baasyir returned to Indonesia in 1999 following Suharto's resignation in May 1998 and
resumed his role as head of an Islamic boarding school in Solo, Central Java.
Prosecutors claim he inherited the leadership of Jemaah Islamiyah in 1999 following
the death of Sungkar.
In August 2000 Baasyir co-founded the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) to
promote his campaign for the adoption of strict Islamic law.
He was arrested shortly after the Bali bombings, which he claimed were perpetrated
by Americans and Jews to justify claims that Indonesia is a terrorist haven. He was
tried at Central Jakarta District Court in 2003, accused of treason, leading Jemaah
Islamiyah, authorizing bombings, immigration offenses 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 re-arrested as soon as he
had completed the sentence, with police saying they had new evidence linking him to
terrorism.
The cleric told the court that since returning from Malaysia he had merely focused on
preaching and teaching, as well as making an honest living to support his family. He
strongly denied any knowledge of Jemaah Islamiyah's existence.
"I am not a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah. I only taught Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia.
I never received any messages from Osama bin Laden as one witness testified in
court," he was quoted as saying by AP.
He also pointed out that Central Jakarta District Court had in 2003 found him not
guilty on a charge of leading Jemaah Islamiyah.
Pessimism
Reading his 55-page defense plea, Baasyir said he was doubtful the panel of five
judges would reach a just verdict.
"I have a hunch the panel of judges will not be able to preside freely over this case
because of the pressure from the enemies of Islam, which has resulted in the
emergence of unfairness. That which is true has become wrong and that which is
wrong has become true," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
"This hunch emerged because of the foreign interference in various fields in Indonesia,
especially from Bush and his lackeys, such as pressure on the political and
economic sectors," he said.
The cleric also claimed foreign pressure on Indonesia could be seen from the results
of the "half-hearted" police investigation into the Bali bombings. "How could it be that
young children could create a bomb that was as horrifying as that, and also police did
not carry out an investigation into the horrifying Bali bomb explosion," he added.
Police have generally been lauded for their successful investigation into the Bali
bombings, as 33 militants – including many Jemaah Islamiyah members –
connected to the attack have been arrested and jailed.
'Release Baasyir'
Baasyir's lawyers urged the court to drop the charges against their client and
immediately release him on the grounds that the prosecution had been unable to
prove the terrorism charges.
"So we asked the panel of judges to find the defendant legitimately and convincingly
not guilty of all of the accusations that were put forward by the prosecution," defense
lawyer Mohammad Assegaf was quoted as saying by detikcom.
Chief prosecutor Salman Maryadi later said Baasyir's defense plea was weak and
irrelevant to the case because Bush and the US government had not intervened in the
case.
Prosecutors have suffered numerous setbacks during the trial, as only a couple of the
more than 40 witnesses have linked Baasyir to the terror 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 Baasyir had led
Jemaah Islamiyah and met with bin Laden. His testimony enraged the cleric'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.
Judges are expected to hand down their verdict in two weeks.
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