The Jakarta Post, 6/7/2004 3:24:22 PM
Ba'asyir takes police to court over arrest
JAKARTA (AFP): Lawyers for militant Indonesian Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir
went to court Monday to challenge his arrest as a top terror suspect, saying the
decision followed pressure from the United States.
Police say they have new evidence that Bashir led the Al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI) terror network, after a court earlier cleared him of the charge.
Despite violent protests from his supporters they rearrested him on April 30 as he
stepped out of prison after completing a sentence for immigration violations.
Lawyer Achmad Michdan, bringing a lawsuit against national police chief Gen. Da'i
Bachtiar, asked South Jakarta district court to order the release of the 65-year-old
cleric.
He said the arrest and detention were unlawful and the result of pressure from
Washington.
"These interventions and pressures took the form of various statements that cornered
the plaintiff, and these interventions and pressures were even made openly by the
U.S. government, demanding that the plaintiff remains in detention," the lawyer said.
He said police seemed to have no new evidence against Ba'asyir and since his
re-arrest were repeating questions they had previously asked him.
"The defendant (Bachtiar) enthusiastically conducted the legal process against the
plaintiff after the arrival of the U.S. homeland security secretary in Indonesia and after
the extraordinary activities of the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia in intervening and
pressuring several officials and public figures," Michdan said.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge visited Indonesia in March. He expressed
disappointment at a supreme court decision to halve Ba'asyir's jail sentence and said
the cleric was deeply involved in terrorism.
Ridge, without elaborating, said at the time he hoped Ba'asyir "will be brought to
justice in a different way."
Police lawyer Rudy Heriyanto said the arrest and detention followed proper legal
procedures. He said the new evidence includes the testimony of 17 witnesses.
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