Ba'asyir lobbies Muslims for support
Ba'asyir lobbies Muslims for support
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is seeking support from the
country's Islamic organizations as police ready a formal
investigation into his alleged involvement in several terror
attacks here.
"The support from Muslim organizations serves as a social
control, since the police are likely to overreact in their
handling of Uztad Abu's case because of pressure from the U.S. in
the absence of legal evidence," said Achmad Michdan, a member of
Ba'asyir's team of lawyers.
"The National Police are one of the country's law enforcement
bodies -- they should prove their professionalism by maintaining
their neutrality and avoiding foreign pressure," Achmad said.
Ba'asyir's team was lobbying Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
Muhammadiyah and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to closely
observe the police probe into their client. A meeting with MUI
executives had been arranged for Monday, he said.
Hidayat Nurwahid, the leader of the Prosperous Justice Party,
visited Ba'asyir on Saturday at the Salemba Penitentiary, where
Ba'asyir is serving 18 months for immigration violations.
Another Ba'asyir lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said Hidayat came to
provide morale support for his client.
Hidayat, whose party looks certain to finish among the top six
in this year's legislative election, also visited Ba'asyir when
he was detained by police early last year.
"I am against terrorism and support the rule of law, but I
object to any foreign intervention. I am worried that those who
blindly accuse others of being terrorists without having evidence
are the real radicals and terrorists," Hidayat said as quoted by
Reuters.
Ali said Ba'asyir would refuse to cooperate in any police
interrogation.
He said the rejection was based on a strong belief the U.S.
had intervened in the legal process.
"Any approval to again detain my client for the purposes of an
investigation will only prove the U.S. intervention," Ali said.
Police had yet to elaborate on what cases (of terrorism) the
cleric was allegedly involved in and what roles he played in
those cases, he said.
"It looks like (the police) are scrambling around, there is no
clarity here," he said.
Police have named Ba'asyir as a terror suspect and will charge
him with planning or persuading others to commit acts of terror
and assisting or abetting the commission of acts of terror,
crimes that carry a maximum death sentence according to Law No.
15/2003 on terrorism.
Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on
Sunday welcomed Indonesia's moves to investigate Ba'asyir.
Downer described Ba'asyir as the spiritual leader of the Al-
Qaeda-linked terror group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), responsible for
the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people, including
88 Australians.
"The fact that the Indonesian police and other authorities are
now looking at further charges is encouraging. This is, of
course, an internal matter for the Indonesians but we have had
quite considerable contact with Indonesian authorities over the
last few weeks on this matter," Downer said as quoted by AFP.