Ba'asyir charged with Marriott blast<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta<\/p>\n
While unable to implicate Abu Bakar Ba'aysir in the Bali
\nbombings, the National Police said on Thursday they would charge
\nthe Muslim cleric with involvement in the 2003 JW Marriott Hotel
\nattack in Jakarta, to keep him in custody.<\/p>\n
National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung
\nSudjono said Ba'asyir, as Jamaah Islamiyah's (JI) leader,
\nmasterminded the hotel bombing -- in which 12 people were killed
\n-- despite the fact that he had been in prison since August 2002.<\/p>\n
\"Ba'asyir helped plan the Marriott bombing because he is the
\nleader of the clandestine organization called Jamaah Islamiyah.
\nHe could have been planning the attack before he was arrested,\"
\nsaid Suyitno.<\/p>\n
The cleric was charged under Law No. 15\/2003 on antiterrorism
\nand Law No. 16\/2003 on retroactivity that enables the police to
\ncharge suspects of the Oct. 12, 2002 Bali blast under the
\nAntiterrorism Law, which remained a draft when the incident
\noccurred. The police have to scrap the charges after the
\nConstitutional Court declared Law No. 16\/2003 unconstitutional,
\nand therefore invalid.<\/p>\n
Previously, the police had said Ba'asyir was behind all bomb
\nattacks that rocked the country from 1999 to 2002.<\/p>\n
The JI, a UN-listed terrorist organization, is blamed for the
\nBali blast, which killed 202 people, and the Aug. 5, 2003 JW
\nMarriott Hotel attack.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir's lawyers demanded on Wednesday their client's
\nimmediate release because his detention letter says he was
\ncharged under the wrong law.<\/p>\n
However, Suyitno insisted that Ba'asyir's detention would
\nstand because of evidence that he was the leader of the JI.<\/p>\n
\"Law No. 15 stipulates that terrorism is an organized crime.
\nSo, Ba'asyir, as the leader of the organization, must be held
\nresponsible,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Suyitno added that a document found during a raid on a house
\nin Semarang in 2003, also revealed that Ba'asyir was the leader
\nof the JI.<\/p>\n
\"We confiscated explosives, guns and documents and arrested
\nseveral JI members. The documents reveal that Ba'asyir is the JI
\nleader, and the suspects arrested said they are JI members and
\nBa'asyir is their leader,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/baasyir-charged-with-marriott-blast-1447893297",
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