Ba'asyir named as suspect, but calls in sick
Ba'asyir named as suspect, but calls in sick
Damar Harsanto and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surakarta
Police said on Friday they had named Abu Bakar Ba'asyir,
chairman of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, as a suspect in
several high profile cases, including a string of bomb attacks
across the country, as well as treason.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said that they
had summoned Ba'asyir for questioning in relation to the charges.
"We've named Ba'asyir as a suspect following the results of
police investigations into Omar al-Faruq. And we've summoned him
for questioning on Saturday," he said.
The charges were based on the results of an investigation
conducted by a police team dispatched to the U.S. to question al-
Faruq. The team was led by Brig. Gen. Ariyanto Sutadi, national
police detectives' director for general crimes.
Ariyanto said Ba'asyir and al-Faruq were involved in various
terrorist activities.
"Ba'asyir entered and left the country without official
documents ... He was also involved in an evil conspiracy linked
to explosives ... ," Ariyanto said.
According to Ariyanto, Ba'asyir violated the Criminal Code's
article 187 on arson, explosives and other offenses endangering
public security and property. The articles maximum sentences of
life imprisonment.
Aryanto also revealed that the police had sufficient evidence
and witnesses implicating both al-Faruq and Ba'asyir.
The cleric, however, was set to not show up at police
headquarters for questioning on Saturday morning due to claims of
ill health. He was reportedly treated on Friday at the
Muhammadiyah hospital in Surakarta, Central Java, for heart and
respiratory problems.
Dr. Suradi, a lung and respiratory specialist at the hospital,
who treated Ba'asyir, confirmed that the cleric suffered from
heart and respiratory problems.
"Due to health problems,Ustad (cleric) Ba'asyir is required to
receive intensive medical treatment for several days ...
Definitely, until tomorrow he will not be allowed to leave the
hospital," said Suradi.
Commenting on Ba'asyir's alleged health problems, Saleh said
that Ba'asyir must first convince police investigators that he
was really sick.
"If he cannot appear due to health reasons, he must convince
police investigators through medical reports from two doctors who
are treating him as well as doctors from the police," Saleh told
The Jakarta Post. "That's standard procedure according to the
Criminal Procedures Code."
Saleh remarked that the police's next move against Ba'asyir
would depend on the investigators.
Previously, Ba'asyir, who is also the head of the Ngruki
Islamic boarding school in Surakarta, held a press conference for
almost an hour to deny all the charges.
"It's a dirty plot engineered by the government. It's simply a
lie. If they have the evidence, please prove it," he said.
Police had revealed earlier on Thursday that Ba'asyir was
acquainted with al-Faruq, who is believed to be one of Osama bin
Laden's top operatives in Southeast Asia.
Police confirmation of al-Faruq's statements has highlighted
the statement made earlier by Minister of Defense Matori Abdul
Djalil about the presence of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in
Indonesia. Such confirmation is at odds with statements made by
Vice President Hamzah Haz, who has repeatedly denied the
existence of any terrorist network in the country.
However, in contrast to Hamzah's earlier statements, the Vice
President admitted on Friday that his denial of the presence of
terrorist networks in Indonesia was meant to calm the general
public and foreign investors.
Meanwhile, legislator Aisyah Amini doubted al-Faruq's
confession, despite the police confirmation, saying "it could be
engineered by a foreign power."
Aisyah's statement underlines the fact that speculation is
rife among public here that al-Faruq's statement was engineered
to pressure the Indonesian government on the terrorism
issue.--Muninggar Sri Saraswati also contributed to this story