I was temporary JI leader: Defendant Abu Rusydan<\/p>\n
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The defendant in a trial related to the Bali bombings told the
\ncourt on Wednesday that he was asked by those attending a meeting
\nin April 2002 to replace Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir as the
\nJamaah Islamiyah (JI) operations leader.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir, 64, had his four-year sentence reduced to a three-
\nyear jail term by the Jakarta High Court on Monday for
\nimmigration offenses and document forgery. The High Court judges
\noverturned the lower court's verdict, which had convicted him of
\ntreason for his alleged leadership of JI. The JI is on the United
\nNations' list of regional terrorist networks.<\/p>\n
Defendant Abu Rusydan, who is charged with concealing
\ninformation on planned terrorist acts, earlier acknowledged that
\nhe was a JI member. But he told the South Jakarta District Court
\nthat he turned down the request to become JI's leader. The
\nrequest was made at a meeting held at Villa Setia in the Puncak
\nhill resort, West Java, in April 2002.<\/p>\n
\"Since I don't know who the real leader of the JI was, I
\nrefused to accede to the request to replace Ba'asyir. How is it
\npossible that I wouldn't know that Ba'asyir was the JI leader
\nwhen I was very close to him?\" said Rusydan.<\/p>\n
But he added he accepted the position of interim operations
\nleader in October 2002.<\/p>\n
The meeting, which was held after the arrest of Ba'asyir, was
\nalso attended by Ali Gufron alias Mukhlas. The latter is now
\nserving a life sentence for his role in the bombings in the
\ncrowded tourist resort of Kuta on Oct. 12 2002, which killed at
\nleast 202 people.<\/p>\n
During Wednesday's hearing, Rusydan acknowledged that Ali
\nGufron was also present at two other meetings of JI members --
\none held on Oct. 17, 2002, five days after the bombings, at the
\nAl Risyad hotel in Tawang Mangu, Karanganyar in Central Java --
\nand the other held in April 2003 at Villa Para in Puncak.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors have accused Rusydan of knowing that Ali Gufron
\nwas one of the Bali bombers and of failing to inform the police
\nof Ali's whereabouts.<\/p>\n
However, Rusydan denied that he had heard Ali Gufron make any
\nmention of the Bali bombings during those meetings.<\/p>\n
Rusydan was responding to testimony given by two witnesses
\nduring Wednesday's hearing.<\/p>\n
Witness Mustofa, who also admitted to being a JI member, said
\nhe was present at the October meeting and that he overheard Ali
\nGufron say during a break that \"We are the Bali bombers\".<\/p>\n
Mustofa's testimony could incriminate Rusydan, who has been
\ncharged under Article 13c of Regulation in Lieu of Law No.1\/2002
\nwith withholding evidence on terrorist activities. Rusydan could
\nface a minimum sentence of three years in prison and a maximum
\nsentence of 15 years in prison if convicted.<\/p>\n
Another witness, Sutikno, claimed that he worked for the JI
\nsecretariat. He testified that he had never heard Ali Gufron
\nclaim to be a Bali bomber.<\/p>\n
In his earlier defense, Rusydan had denied membership of JI,
\nbut eventually admitted he was a member on Wednesday, explaining
\nthat he was appointed interim operations leader at the second
\nmeeting. He said he had agreed under two conditions.<\/p>\n
The first was that he refused to be involved in any violent
\nactivities planned by JI, which the witnesses in Rusydan's trial
\nsay is not an organization with statutes, but rather a
\n\"congregation\" (jamaah). The second condition was that he would
\nonly serve as temporary leader until JI members agreed
\nunanimously on a leader.<\/p>\n
Rusydan maintained that JI could not be linked to terrorism,
\nas its activities were based on Islamic law.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta office of the International Crisis Group (ICG)
\nreleased a study this year on JI, which has also been blamed for
\nthe bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on Aug. 5, which
\nclaimed 12 lives. The research group said that JI members are
\nwell-trained in bomb-making and the use of firearms.<\/p>\n
Presiding Judge Mahmoud Rahimi adjourned the hearing until
\nDec. 8 to hear two other witnesses.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/i-was-temporary-ji-leader-defendant-abu-rusydan-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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