LAKSAMANA.Net, January 27, 2005 09:24 PM
Baasyir Walks Out of Terror Trial
Laksamana.Net - Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir walked out of his terrorism
trial in Jakarta on Thursday (27/1/05) to protest the reading of witness interrogation
records identifying him as the leader of regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah.
Baasyir is 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 JW Marriott Hotel.
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 cleric could face the death
penalty if found guilty of terrorism.
Proceedings at Thursday's trial session started smoothly, but Baasyir's lawyers
immediately protested when the prosecution tried to read out the interrogation records
of terror suspects being detained in Singapore and Malaysia.
"In accordance with the prevailing regulations, the witnesses from Singapore cannot
leave the country because they are still being detained. We request the permission of
the panel of judges to read out the witnesses' interrogation records," chief prosecutor
Salman Maryadi was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
Baasyir's lawyers vehemently opposed the request, insisting that Indonesian
regulations require witnesses to be present when their interrogation records are read
out in court.
"If the witness is not put forward before the court and only his police interrogation
record is read out, then how can we lawyers conduct a cross examination of the
testimony?" asked chief defense lawyer Mohammad Assegaf.
The prosecution and the defense then bickered over the matter for about 10 minutes.
Presiding judge Sudarto thereafter ruled that the interrogation records could be read
out without the presence of the witnesses, as they could not be brought to the court
because they were being detained abroad.
"This obstacle is a valid obstacle that prevents these witnesses from appearing before
the court," said the judge.
Assegaf was not impressed by the decision. "We have decided to leave the trial
because do not want to share responsibility for the reading of these interrogation
records. So we, the team of lawyers, will stage a walkout… With all due respect to
this court, we are withdrawing ourselves from this trial," he said.
Not wanting to be left behind, Baasyir requested permission to join his lawyers. "The
head of my defense team has left the court and because I must be accompanied by
my lawyers during my trial, I therefore request permission to also go out," he said.
"All right, I give my permission," replied Sudarto. Baasyir and his 10-member defense
team then got up and left the courtroom.
The defendant and his lawyers sat in a nearby room while the trial continued.
They returned after the interrogation records had been read out. Some of the
testimonies identified Baasyir as Jemaah Islamiyah's leader.
Outside the courtroom, Assegaf defended the walkout. "As lawyers, we are upholders
of the law, so we objected to taking part in a trial that opposes the law," he was
quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.
"There is a possibility that the witnesses gave information to investigating officers
because they were under pressure," he added.
Assegaf also complained that the witnesses in Singapore and Malaysia had been
detained under the two countries' repressive Internal Security Acts, which he said
mirrored Indonesia's now-defunct anti-subversion law.
He pointed out that some of the Indonesian witnesses in Baasyir's trial had withdrawn
their original statements to police, as they had been made while "under pressure".
The lawyer said the panel of judges had violated Article 162 of the Criminal Procedure
Code (KUHAP) by allowing the reading of interrogation records from absent
witnesses.
Actually, Article 162 of KUHAP allows for an interrogation record to be submitted as
evidence if a witness is unable to appear in court for legal reasons.
An unofficial translation of Article 162 of KUHAP is as follows:
(1) If a witness, after giving testimony in an investigation dies or cannot be present in
court because of legal reasons, or cannot be called due to the distance of his
residence or because of other reasons related to the state's interest, then the
testimony that he has given will be read out.
(2) If the testimony was beforehand given under oath, then the testimony will be
regarded equally as witness testimony given under oath in court.
Despite that, Assegaf was adamant that the panel of judges was in the wrong. He
said the defense would therefore ask them to strike the interrogation statements from
the record, as they could not be used as material evidence.
Maryadi, speaking to reporters after the trial session, insisted that he had followed the
law in reading out the interrogation records of the witnesses who could not be
produced in court.
"As public prosecutor, I believe the reading of the police interrogation records of the
witnesses from Malaysia and Singapore was legal. In accordance with the opinions of
the legal practitioners who investigated the people overseas, it was impossible to
bring them here," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
He emphasized that Article 27 of Law No.15/2003 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts
of Terrorism allows for interrogation records to be read in court. Article 27 stipulates
that material evidence in an investigation of terrorism includes data that has been
stated, transcribed, recorded or stored electronically.
"But the fact is that Baasyir's lawyers went ahead with their walkout, as if they were
in the right," said Maryadi.
Mute Witness
Hutomo Pamungkas alias Mubarok, one of the convicted Bali bombers, was brought
to court as a witness in Thursday's trial session, but he refused to answer questions,
stating he had nothing further to add to testimony he made at Baasyir's treason trial in
2003.
The judges and prosecutors asked him several questions, including whether it was
true that Baasyir had given the Bali bombers the go-ahead for the attacks.
"I will not give any testimony in this trial because I already testified in the case of the
same defendant at a previous trial session in the Meteorological and Geophysics
Agency [BMG] building in Central Jakarta," Mubarok was quoted as saying by Antara.
Baasyir 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.
That trial was held at the BMG building for reasons of space of space and security.
His current trial is being handled by South Jakarta District Court, but is taking place in
an auditorium at the Agriculture Ministry, again for space and security reasons.
Mubarok deigned to answer only one of the many questions asked by the judges.
When Sudarto asked him whether he had been questioned by one of the investigating
officers named in his police interrogation record, he curtly replied "yes".
He then remained silent in the witness chair, even ignoring a request from Baasyir to
answer the questions. "It would be better if you gave testimony, rather than remain
silent, as this could cause problems later in the trial," the cleric was quoted as saying
by detikcom. Mubarok merely bowed his head.
Sudarto urged the witness to be me more cooperative. "It is important that you testify.
The previous court session in which you testified was about a different case in which
the defendant was charged with immigration law violations and treason. The present
case is about bombings and terrorism. The judges in the present trial are also
different. Your friend, Ali Imron, was willing to testify," he said, referring to another of
the convicted Bali bombers.
Mubarok was unmoved by the appeal, so Sudarto then asked him only to reconfirm
his statements made in Baasyir's previous trial, but the witness still remained
tightlipped.
After 30 minutes of trying to coax and cajole Mubarok into testifying, the judges
eventually gave up and expelled him from the court.
"I've been a judge for a long time, but this is the first time I have encountered a
witness like this," said Sudarto, eliciting laughter from the crowded courtroom.
The judge said that in view of the witness' lack of cooperation, the court would read
out his police interrogation record.
Assegaf protested the decision, arguing that Mubarok had only admitted to being
questioned by police but had not said whether his testimony was true.
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