Ba'asyir dismisses bombing charges as 'joke'

Ba'asyir dismisses bombing charges as 'joke'

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The elderly Muslim cleric who is on trial for the bombings in
Bali and at the JW Mariott Hotel in Jakarta, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir,
mocked the court on Thursday and challenged it to pile on the
charges.

Ba'asyir said in his defense plea that the charges addressed
to him was a mere joke, made only to satisfy the United States.

"To add to the thrill, why not add the bombing (in front of)
the General Election Commission (July 26), the Kuningan bombing
(in September) and the blast (in front of) the Indonesian Embassy
in Paris (Oct. 8) to my charges," Ba'asyir said, referring to a
number of bombings this year.

He faces criminal charges for the bombings in Bali in 2002
which claimed 202 lives, for which the maximum penalty is life,
and of violating the anti terrorism law for the U.S.-chain JW
Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta in 2003 which killed 12 people.

Earlier the Constitutional Court ruled that the anti terrorism
law which was passed early last year and for which the maximum
penalty is death, could not apply retroactively.

"I was accused for being involved with the Marriott bombing
while I had been under detention for about a year. I didn't even
know that Marriott was a name of a hotel," the 66-year-old cleric
said reading his statement.

"Perhaps the police and the prosecutors believe I could go in
and out of prison magically ... This is really a joke," he said.

He reiterated claims that his trial was part of a U.S.
scenario to pressure on Muslims. Referring to President George W.
Bush, who has just been re-elected, he said, "He made things up,
as if it was a fight against terrorism. Bush's definition of a
terrorist is every Muslim who tries to establish Islamic law."

Ba'asyir is also accused for attending a graduation ceremony
of an Islamic militia training in Mindanao, the Philippines, in
April 2000, an incident which the prosecution relates to his
involvement in the bombings.

Graduates of the training included Malaysian nationals Azahari
and Noordin M. Top, leading fugitives wanted for several bombing
cases in Indonesia, including the latest, Sept. 9 blast in front
of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta which claimed 10 lives. The
training is said to be held by the United Nations-listed
terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah, which Ba'asyir is
accused of leading.

"I was busy preparing the Congress of Majelis Mujahiddin
Indonesia (MMI) in Yogyakarta at that time," said Ba'asyir of the
organization which he chairs.

His lawyer Muhammad Assegaff said that the prosecutor "had
connected several entirely unrelated events." Also citing the
interest of the U.S. and its allies including Australia in the
war on terrorism, Assegaff questioned why his client was
prosecuted for the Bali bombing only two years after the event.

After the trial, Ba'asyir asked for a suspended detention to
celebrate the coming Idul Fitri with his family at home. The
judges said they would consider the request.

Thursday trial's was attended by dozens of Ba'asyir's
supporters, his wife and two sons.

The trial was adjourned until Nov. 11 to hear the prosecutor's
response to the defense statement.