Ba'asyir lobbies Muslims for support<\/p>\n
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is seeking support from the
\ncountry's Islamic organizations as police ready a formal
\ninvestigation into his alleged involvement in several terror
\nattacks here.<\/p>\n
\"The support from Muslim organizations serves as a social
\ncontrol, since the police are likely to overreact in their
\nhandling of Uztad Abu's case because of pressure from the U.S. in
\nthe absence of legal evidence,\" said Achmad Michdan, a member of
\nBa'asyir's team of lawyers.<\/p>\n
\"The National Police are one of the country's law enforcement
\nbodies -- they should prove their professionalism by maintaining
\ntheir neutrality and avoiding foreign pressure,\" Achmad said.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir's team was lobbying Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
\nMuhammadiyah and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to closely
\nobserve the police probe into their client. A meeting with MUI
\nexecutives had been arranged for Monday, he said.<\/p>\n
Hidayat Nurwahid, the leader of the Prosperous Justice Party,
\nvisited Ba'asyir on Saturday at the Salemba Penitentiary, where
\nBa'asyir is serving 18 months for immigration violations.<\/p>\n
Another Ba'asyir lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said Hidayat came to
\nprovide morale support for his client.<\/p>\n
Hidayat, whose party looks certain to finish among the top six
\nin this year's legislative election, also visited Ba'asyir when
\nhe was detained by police early last year.<\/p>\n
\"I am against terrorism and support the rule of law, but I
\nobject to any foreign intervention. I am worried that those who
\nblindly accuse others of being terrorists without having evidence
\nare the real radicals and terrorists,\" Hidayat said as quoted by
\nReuters.<\/p>\n
Ali said Ba'asyir would refuse to cooperate in any police
\ninterrogation.<\/p>\n
He said the rejection was based on a strong belief the U.S.
\nhad intervened in the legal process.<\/p>\n
\"Any approval to again detain my client for the purposes of an
\ninvestigation will only prove the U.S. intervention,\" Ali said.<\/p>\n
Police had yet to elaborate on what cases (of terrorism) the
\ncleric was allegedly involved in and what roles he played in
\nthose cases, he said.<\/p>\n
\"It looks like (the police) are scrambling around, there is no
\nclarity here,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Police have named Ba'asyir as a terror suspect and will charge
\nhim with planning or persuading others to commit acts of terror
\nand assisting or abetting the commission of acts of terror,
\ncrimes that carry a maximum death sentence according to Law No.
\n15\/2003 on terrorism.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on
\nSunday welcomed Indonesia's moves to investigate Ba'asyir.<\/p>\n
Downer described Ba'asyir as the spiritual leader of the Al-
\nQaeda-linked terror group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), responsible for
\nthe October 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people, including
\n88 Australians.<\/p>\n
\"The fact that the Indonesian police and other authorities are
\nnow looking at further charges is encouraging. This is, of
\ncourse, an internal matter for the Indonesians but we have had
\nquite considerable contact with Indonesian authorities over the
\nlast few weeks on this matter,\" Downer said as quoted by AFP.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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