Bombing charges await Ba'asyir<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir will be charged with masterminding the
\nJ.W. Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta and the illegal possession
\nof explosives, the Attorney General's Office says.<\/p>\n
The office also said on Thursday prosecutors had finished
\ndrafting charges against Ba'asyir and would submit his case file
\nto the South Jakarta District Court next week.<\/p>\n
\"The prosecutors will submit the case file to the court next
\nweek, if not this week. The South Jakarta court will try him,\"
\noffice spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said.<\/p>\n
The court will set the trial date.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir, who was earlier tried and acquitted of being the
\nleader of regional terrorist network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), was
\narrested for alleged involvement in a string of terrorist attacks
\nin Indonesia from 1999 to 2003, including the Bali bombings on
\nOct. 12, 2002.<\/p>\n
Police investigators, however, agreed not to pursue charges
\nagainst Ba'asyir in the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people
\nand injured over 300 others, after the Constitutional Court ruled
\nin July that Law No. 16\/2003 on the retroactive application of
\nLaw No. 15\/2003 on terrorism violated the Constitution.<\/p>\n
\"We have dropped the Bali bombings from the charges because of
\nthe ruling,\" said Kemas.<\/p>\n
He said Ba'asyir was being charged with masterminding the J.W.
\nMarriott Hotel bombing that killed 12 people in August 2003, and
\nthe illegal possession of explosives found last year on Jl. Sri
\nRejeki in Semarang, Central Java.<\/p>\n
Police confiscated a huge cache of explosives, weapons and
\ndocuments that allegedly pointed to Ba'asyir's connection to JI
\nduring a raid on a house on Jl. Sri Rejeki in Semarang in 2003.<\/p>\n
Kemas said the cleric would be charged under Law No. 15\/2003
\non terrorism and several articles of the Criminal Code, including
\nArticle 167 on the illegal possession of explosives.<\/p>\n
\"We are sure that we have strong evidence and witnesses to
\ncharge him with terrorism. We would not have announced that the
\ncase file was complete if we did not have a strong case. He could
\nget the death penalty if found guilty,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Police named Ba'asyir a terrorist suspect on April 16 and
\ncharged him under articles 14, 15, 17 and 18 of Law No. 15\/2003
\non antiterrorism, for planning, abetting and perpetrating
\nterrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
Police said that as the spiritual leader of JI, Ba'asyir was
\nresponsible for planning several bombings in the country between
\n1999 and 2003.<\/p>\n
Law No. 15\/2003 states that terrorism is an organized crime,
\nso Ba'asyir, as the leader of the organization, can be held
\nresponsible for its actions, Kemas said.<\/p>\n
JI has been listed by the UN as a terrorist organization, and
\nhas been blamed for the Bali bombings and the JW Marriott hotel
\nattack.<\/p>\n
Police also have linked the recent bombing outside the
\nAustralian Embassy in Jakarta that killed 10 people to JI.
\nSeveral media outlets speculated the bombing was connected with
\nthe cleric when JI allegedly claimed responsibility for the
\nattack on a web page, and warned that if Ba'asyir was not
\nreleased more explosions would occur.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir was tried last year for involvement in terrorists
\nactivities, but prosecutors failed to prove their case and he was
\nacquitted. However, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for
\nimmigration offenses and document forgery.<\/p>\n
He was rearrested shortly after his release on April 30 this
\nyear, triggering a violent clash between the cleric's supporters
\nand the police that left more than 100 people injured.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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