LAKSAMANA.Net, January 21, 2005 02:27 PM
Bali Bomber Denies Baasyir Blessed Attacks
Laksamana.Net - Prosecutors attempting to prove radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar
Baasyir guilty of inciting terrorism suffered another setback when a man convicted
over the Bali nightclub bombings testified the defendant was not involved in the deadly
attacks.
Ali Imron, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the October 2002 blasts that
killed 202 people, on Thursday (20/1/05) told South Jakarta District Court he had
never received an order or blessing from Baasyir to carry out the bombings.
He also said the cleric had not provided any financial or logistical support for the
attacks, which have been blamed on regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah.
Baasyir, who is accused of leading Jemaah Islamiyah, is charged with inciting his
followers to carry out the Bali bombings and the August 2003 attack at Jakarta's JW
Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people.
Prosecutors also say he visited a Jemaah Islamiyah military training camp 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 bearded cleric could face the
death penalty if found guilty of terrorism.
Since his trial started in November, several convicted and suspected terrorists brought
to the court as witnesses have denied that Baasyir ordered any terror attacks or was
involved in Jemaah Islamiyah.
Many of the witnesses had originally told police the cleric was a leader of the group,
but they later withdrew their incriminating statements in court, claiming they had been
forced to give "false information" under threat of torture.
Only three witnesses, all of whom testified last month, have so far linked Baasyir to
bin Laden and/or Jemaah Islamiyah.
Malaysian citizen Mohammad Nasir Abbas, a self-confessed former senior member of
Jemaah Islamiyah, testified 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.
Kiss & Tell Nothing
The Australian daily reported that Baasyir on Thursday walked across the courtroom
to Imron, looked him in the eye, shook his hand and kissed him. The report said "it
was a moment of solidarity that said volumes about where the loyalties really lie in the
confusing trial of Baasyir".
Imron, a former preacher at his family's Islamic school in the tiny village of Tenggulun,
East Java, was one of the few Bali bombers to express deep remorse for the attacks.
It was those expressions of regret that saved him from the death penalty, unlike his
two elder brothers, Mukhlas and Amrozi, who are now on death row for their key roles
in the bombings.
Analysts had expected Imron to be a key prosecution witness against Baasyir, as he
had provided incriminating testimony when the cleric was tried two years ago for
treason and authorizing bombings.
Imron, who assembled the main bomb used in the Bali attacks, in May 2003 testified
that Baasyir had taken over the leadership of Jemaah Islamiyah following the death of
the group's co-founder, Abdullah Sungkar, in 1999.
Almost two years later, Imron has changed his tune. He told the court on Thursday
that Sungkar, and not Baasyir, was the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah.
Asked by the judges about his relationship with Baasyir, he said he first met the
cleric at the latter's Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Central Java, during
a visit with his father in 1982.
Imron said he later visited Ngruki twice in 2001, first to personally invite Baasyir to
give a sermon at the Tenggulun school's annual graduation ceremony. He said the
second visit was made with Amrozi to seek Baasyir's advice on a fabric business.
During the second meeting, he said, Amrozi delivered the news that a Malaysian
group claiming to be acting in the name of Islam had committed a robbery.
Imron claimed Baasyir was greatly upset by the news. "How could something like that
happen? How could Islam steal? That's a smear on the name of Islam," he quoted the
cleric as saying.
The witness said he never met with Baasyir again. The judges then asked him a string
of questions about the Bali bombings and in every response he insisted the cleric had
nothing to do with the attacks.
Asked about Jemaah Islamiyah, Imron said he first learned of the group's existence
after a reading an Egyptian book about the "Islamic brotherhood".
He said he later joined the jihad (holy war) in Afghanistan, where there were many
other members of Jemaah Islamiyah. Asked who the group's leader was, he replied: "I
considered my leader was Abdullah Sungkar."
Chief prosecutor Salman Maryadi then attempted to question Imron, but Baasyir's
lawyer Mohammad Assegaf protested that the questions were irrelevant as they had
already been covered by the judges.
Another convicted Bali bomber, Hutomo Pamungkas alias Mubarok, was also
scheduled to testify on Thursday but he failed to appear due to an apparent illness.
The court received a letter from the Urology Clinic at Jakarta's Cipto Mangunkusumo
Hospital stating that Mubarok was ill and needed to rest until January 25.
At Baasyir's previous trial, Mubarok in May 2003 testified that the cleric was the
spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah.
Back then, Mubarok said he joined Jemaah Islamiyah in 1999 by swearing an oath to
a man called Zulkarnaen. He said Zulkarnaen later told him Baasyir was the new
leader of Jemaah Islamiyah.
Mubarok is now serving a life sentence for providing logistical support and helping to
plan the Bali bombings.
Presiding judge Sudarto adjourned Baasyir's trial until January 27, when Mubarok is
due to testify.
No Mega Witness Yet
Last week former US State Department translator Frederick Burks told the trial that
an envoy of President George W. Bush had in September 2002 asked then
Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri to secretly arrest Baasyir and hand him
over to US authorities.
Burks said Megawati refused the request on the grounds that Baasyir was too
popular.
Baasyir's lawyers subsequently requested that Megawati be summoned as a witness
to corroborate Burks' testimony.
"The legal authorities have sent a letter Megawati, but so far there has not been an
answer yet. So she doesn't have to report to the panel of judges yet," said Sudarto.
Trying Times
Baasyir (65) was arrested on October 19, 2002, in the aftermath of the Bali bombings,
but authorities at that time were unable to produce any hard evidence linking him to
the attacks.
Although an avowed supporter of bin Laden, Baasyir has consistently denied any
involvement in Jemaah Islamiyah and insists all of the accusations against him are
part of a US-led conspiracy to discredit Islam.
In April 2003, the cleric was put on trial at Central Jakarta District Court and charged
with treason (including an alleged plot to assassinate Megawati), authorizing
bombings (as the alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiyah), immigration offenses and
falsifying identity documents.
In September 2003, he was sentenced to four years in prison for treason, immigration
violations and forging documents. But the court said he was not guilty of leading
Jemaah Islamiyah or masterminding a plot to use religious violence to overthrow the
government and assassinate Megawati.
Jakarta High Court in December 2003 announced it had overturned the cleric's treason
conviction and reduced his jail sentence to three years. In March 2004, the Supreme
Court further reduced the sentence to one and a half years. Baasyir was released on
April 30 - at which point police immediately re-arrested him, citing new evidence to
charge him with leading Jemaah Islamiyah and inciting terror attacks.
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.
Man Resembling Fugitive Bomber Seen in Mataram
Detikcom online news portal reported that a resident of Mataram, the main city on
Lombok island, West Nusa Tenggara province, had seen a man resembling
suspected Malaysian bomber Noordin Mohammad Top.
Noordin and fellow Malaysian fugitive Azahari Husin are suspected of playing key
roles in the Bali bombings, the Marriott attack and last September's deadly blast
outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.
Authorities have warned the two are armed with explosives and probably recruiting
new followers to carry out more attacks.
Detikcom said a Mataram resident on Monday saw a man, who bore a strong
resemblance to wanted posters of Noordin, sitting next to the driver of a public
passenger minivan. He was reportedly carrying an item that appeared to be a
handgun.
The resident immediately reported the sighting to police. National Police headquarters
in Jakarta on Thursday night confirmed they had received the report and said officers
were searching for the suspect.
It's not the first time that a member of the public has reported seeing Noordin. Police
in the past have arrested several people resembling Noordin, only to discover they had
got the wrong man on each occasion.
Police have offered the public a reward of Rp1 billion ($110,000) for information leading
to Noordin's arrest. The same bounty has been put out for Azahari.
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