Questioning of Ba'asyir still undecided<\/p>\n
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police have yet to set a date for questioning cleric Abu Bakar
\nBa'asyir over his suspected involvement in terrorist activities.<\/p>\n
"We haven't set any date for questioning Ba'asyir. It is not
\ntrue that we had scheduled the cleric's questioning for Wednesday
\nas reported in the media," deputy police spokesman Brig. Gen.
\nSoenarko D.A. said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He, however, admitted that the police had sent a letter to the
\nDirectorate of Penitentiaries asking for permission to take
\nBa'asyir out of the Salemba Penitentiary for questioning.<\/p>\n
According to Soenarko, police are currently gathering
\nadditional evidence to build a strong case against Ba'asyir.<\/p>\n
"In this case, police are not focusing their investigation on
\njust one person and we are not being intimidated by anyone,
\nincluding the U.S.," Soenarko said.<\/p>\n
The coordinator for Ba'asyir's defense team, Mohammad
\nAssegaff, alleged that police were just scrambling to seek vague
\ngrounds to question Ba'asyir. He said that the United States
\nhad pressured Indonesia to question Ba'asyir.<\/p>\n
Assegaff told The Jakarta Post that police had not followed up
\ntheir plan to question the cleric.<\/p>\n
"Our suspicion is that police actually do not have a strong
\nbasis to question Uztad Abu, and this has become clearer, as up
\nuntil now they have not determined the status of Ba'asyir," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Assegaff said the police would have to make clear which
\nterrorist attacks was Ba'asyir implicated in if they wanted to
\ncharge the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI) chairman under Law
\nNo. 15, 2003 on terrorism.<\/p>\n
Police said on Tuesday that they would use the testimonies of
\nsuspected terrorists now detained in the Philippines, Singapore,
\nand Malaysia to investigate Ba'asyir's involvement in terrorist
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
Assegaff reiterated that the Supreme Court had quashed in
\nearly March a charge that Ba'asyir was the leader of regional
\nterrorist network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which has been blamed
\nfor a series of terrorist attacks in the country, including the
\ndeadly Bali bombing on Oct. 12, 2002.<\/p>\n
Also on Wednesday, about one hundred Muslim activists, calling
\nthemselves the Surakarta Muslim Society, protested in front of
\nthe National Police Headquarters.<\/p>\n
The group, led by Mudzakir, called for the dismissal of
\nNational Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar for bowing to pressure
\nfrom the United Sates.<\/p>\n
He said that the police had treated Ba'asyir arbitrarily and
\ndefamed him by saying that he may have been involved in several
\nbombing cases in the country. He said that the Supreme Court had
\nonly found him guilty of immigration violation and ID card
\nforgery.<\/p>\n
Mudzakir, along with 24 other members of the group, was
\nallowed to convey his message to National Police spokesman Insp.
\nGen. Ba'asyir Barmawi.<\/p>\n
After the meeting, Mudzakir complained that police gave
\nstandard answers to their demands.<\/p>\n
"They are so good at playing with words. They say they don't
\nplan to interrogate him, only to ask for an explanation," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
From the National Police headquarters, the protesters went to
\nvisit Ba'asyir at Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta.<\/p>",
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