Ba'asyir sues minister, prison chief<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Lawyers of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir submitted a lawsuit on Tuesday,
\ndemanding that the hard-line Muslim cleric be released from the
\n30-month prison term he is serving for his involvement in the
\nBali bomb attack.<\/p>\n
Defendants named in the lawsuit were Minister of Justice and
\nHuman Rights Hamid Awaluddin and Jakarta's Cipinang penitentiary
\nwarden Dedi Sutardi. Ba'asyir is serving his term in Cipinang.<\/p>\n
\"We are requesting that the detention (of Ba'asyir) carried
\nout by the Cipinang prison chief with the support of the justice
\nand human rights minister be declared invalid,\" lawyer M.
\nMahendradatta was quoted by Antara as saying after filing the
\nlawsuit with the South Jakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta District Court jailed Ba'asyir for 30 months
\nin March for his role in a criminal conspiracy that led to the
\nOctober 2002 bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people.<\/p>\n
The court however acquitted him of the more serious charge of
\nplanning terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta High Court dismissed Ba'asyir's appeal last month,
\nprompting his lawyers to bring the case to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
In Tuesday's lawsuit, they argued that Ba'asyir's status as an
\nappeal court detainee expired on Sunday, meaning he should have
\nbeen released.<\/p>\n
They accused Hamid Awaluddin and Sutardi of failing to show
\nthem paperwork confirming Ba'asyir's change in status as a
\nSupreme Court detainee.<\/p>\n
The two defendants had failed to \"present any proof in the
\nform of a letter or statement\" to justify Ba'asyir's further
\ndetention.<\/p>\n
\"This is an act of oppression and confiscation of freedom,\"
\nlawyer Wirawan Adnan was quoted by AFP as saying.<\/p>\n
Mahendradatta said that under Article 19 (7) of Government
\nRegulation No. 27\/1983, the prison chief must release a detainee
\nif his or her detention term expires, without necessarily being
\napproved by other officials or government agencies.<\/p>\n
The lawyer further argued that the current detention of
\nBa'asyir had nothing to do with the 30-month jail term handed
\ndown in March, because it still was not a legally binding verdict
\nuntil after the Supreme Court issues a decision.<\/p>\n
The 66-year-old cleric was arrested a week after the Bali
\nbombings, but terrorism charges were thrown out during a trial in
\n2003.<\/p>\n
However, he was found guilty of immigration offenses and
\njailed.<\/p>\n
Police rearrested him in April 2004 as he left prison after
\nserving the immigration sentence, citing new evidence of
\nterrorist links and of his alleged leadership of the Jamaah
\nIslamiyah terrorist organization.<\/p>\n
The 30-month sentence has been criticized by Australia and the
\nUnited States as too lenient. They assert that Ba'asyir is the
\nspiritual leader of Jamaah Islamiyah which has been blamed for
\nthe Bali blasts and a series of other attacks, including a
\nsuicide bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta last
\nSeptember that killed 11 people.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/baasyir-sues-minister-prison-chief-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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