Ba'asyir verdict sparks courtroom violence<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Supporters of terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir fought a running
\nbattle with police officers and hurled shoes and other debris
\ninside a courtroom, shortly after a judge dismissed on Monday the
\nlawsuit against the arrest of the elderly cleric.<\/p>\n
Judge Syamsul Ali announced at the South Jakarta District
\nCourt that police had valid grounds to detain Ba'asyir on terror
\ncharges.<\/p>\n
The decision paved the way for prosecutors to continue holding
\nhim in custody to face trial, and for police to go ahead with
\narresting other terror suspects despite mounting protests from
\nIslamic hardliners.<\/p>\n
Immediately after hearing the verdict against the pre-trial
\nsuit filed by Ba'asyir's lawyers against police, one of his
\nsupporters threw his sandal at Syamsul, and security officers
\nescorted him outside of the courtroom.<\/p>\n
Other supporters, mostly activists from the Ba'asyir-led
\nIndonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), then began hurling all manner
\nof footwear at a lawyer representing the police, while yelling
\nthat the judge was a puppet of the United States and made a
\ndecision based on what the superpower country wanted.<\/p>\n
\"Ustadz (teacher) Ba'asyir is not guilty. Allahu Akbar (God is
\ngreat). You are all American puppets. You will receive punishment
\nsomeday,\" one angry young man shouted.<\/p>\n
Several officers, led by Pasar Minggu Police chief Comr. Didi
\nS., rushed into the courtroom to try to help calm down the
\ncleric's angry supporters.<\/p>\n
But one of them instead struck Didi in the face. Another
\npolice officer, who tried to defend Didi, was also beaten by the
\nmob.<\/p>\n
The brawl eventually cooled down after more police officers
\narrived, while several of the apparent leaders of the group also
\nhelped calm down the crowd, who continued jeering the judge and
\npolice over the verdict.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir's lawyer Acmad Michdan also slammed the ruling,
\nsaying it showed the judge did not have the courage to make a
\nruling based on truth.<\/p>\n
\"Based on the Criminal Code, Ba'asyir must be released after
\nthe Constitutional Court struck down the articles permitting the
\nretroactive application of the antiterror law,\" he claimed.<\/p>\n
The Constitutional Court ruled on July 23 that the retroactive
\narticles in Law No. 16\/2003 on terrorism (passed a few months
\nafter the Bali bombings) were unconstitutional, even though the
\nlaw itself remains in force.<\/p>\n
Following the annulment, the team of lawyers for Ba'asyir
\nfiled a pre-trial suit with the district court to challenge the
\npolice arrest of their client on charges of involvement in the
\n2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people.<\/p>\n
However, according to Ba'syir's case file submitted to the
\nAttorney General's Office, the police dropped the charge
\nregarding the Bali bombings and instead will use the Criminal
\nCode for that count.<\/p>\n
The case file still has a charge against Ba'asyir under the
\nantiterror law for playing a role in the 2003 bombing of the
\nMarriott Hotel, Jakarta, which took place after Law No. 16\/2003
\nwas enacted.<\/p>\n
Commenting on Ba'asyir's verdict, a legal expert from the
\nUniversity of Indonesia, Rudy Satrio, said the court decision
\nwould encourage the police to continue making arrests of Muslim
\nactivists suspected of terror, despite little solid evidence.<\/p>\n
Some 150 activists have been arrested by police with alleged
\nlinks to terrorism since the Bali terror attack, according to
\nMuslim lawyers.<\/p>\n
They Muslim lawyers demanded an end to such arrests, which
\nthey said were made \"arbitrarily and unlawfully\".<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/baasyir-verdict-sparks-courtroom-violence-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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