Police rush to complete Ba'asyir terror case file<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police are stepping up a gear in their effort to complete the
\ncase file on Abu Bakar Ba'asyir's alleged role in the JW Marriott
\nHotel bombing here last year, before his detention period expires
\nin less than two months.<\/p>\n
National Police antiterrorism division director Brig. Gen.
\nPranowo Dahlan said on Wednesday that in a bid to collect more
\nevidence of Ba'asyir's role in the terror attack, police
\ninvestigators were intensively questioning seven suspects now in
\ndetention in Bali, including those who were arrested in the
\nCentral Java town, Sukoharjo, in June. They are also linked to
\nthe Bali bombing of 2002.<\/p>\n
\"We are optimistic we can submit the case file to the
\nprosecutors before the end of September,\" Pranowo said. \"We
\nsimply have to make minor changes to the file and add more
\naccounts from witnesses we are questioning.\"<\/p>\n
He said more accounts were required from suspects in the
\nMarriott bombing after the Constitutional Court declared Law No.
\n16\/2003, under which Bali bombers were charged, unconstitutional
\nbecause of its retroactivity principle.<\/p>\n
Police are now charging Ba'asyir with helping to plan the
\nMarriott bombing on Aug. 5, 2003, which left 12 people dead, on
\nthe grounds that he leads Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a secretive
\norganization linked to al-Qaeda. JI has been blamed for both the
\nBali and Marriott hotel attacks.<\/p>\n
\"All we have to do now is prove that JI exists and Ba'asyir is
\nthe leader of the organization,\" said Pranowo.<\/p>\n
Police have pointed to witnesses' accounts that Ba'asyir
\ninaugurated many JI members in Hudaibiyah camp in the Southern
\nPhilippines several years ago. The police also found documents
\nafter raiding a house in Semarang last year, which revealed that
\nBa'asyir was the JI leader.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir was serving a 18 month-sentence for immigration
\noffenses and document forgery when the Marriott attack took
\nplace. But police said the bombing plan could have been initiated
\nlong before his arrest weeks after the Bali blast on Oct. 12,
\n2002.<\/p>\n
Lawyers of the Muslim cleric have demanded their client's
\nrelease due to the changes in the charges. Ba'asyir was
\noriginally charged with involvement in the Bali bombing, which
\nclaimed 202 lives.<\/p>\n
He was rearrested on the day he completed his jail term, on
\nApril 30.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-rush-to-complete-baasyir-terror-case-file-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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