Ba'asyir to face trial over Bali, Marriott blasts

Sari P. Setiogi and M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Elderly cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is slated to stand a second trial on terrorist charges here on Thursday for his alleged links with the Bali and J.W. Marriott Hotel bombings.

The trial will be held by the Central Jakarta District Court at the Ministry of Agriculture's auditorium in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta in anticipation of a large number of observers.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said more than 700 personnel would be deployed around the trial venue, which was supposed to host a corruption hearing of former president Soeharto in 2000.

"Six hours before the trial, the venue will be cleared by a police bomb squad," Tjiptono told The Jakarta Post.

Ba'asyir, 65, the reported spiritual leader of Jamaah Islamiyah, has been charged under Antiterror Law. No. 15/2003 for masterminding the 2003 Marriott attack that killed 12 people.

For the Bali blasts, which left 202 people dead in 2002, he has been charged under the Criminal Code, after the Constitutional Court ruled that the retroactive principle adopted in the 2003 Antiterror Law was unconstitutional.

The cleric could face the death sentence if convicted.

Jakarta District Court president Sudarto will preside over Ba'asyir's trial, accompanied by four other judges. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday.

A total of 77 witnesses, including two legal experts, will testify in the much-awaited trial.

Among the witnesses will be convicted Bali and Marriott bombers, namely Imam Samudra, Amrozi, Ali Ghufron, and suspected terrorists Gun Gun Rusman Gunawan and Taufiq Rifki.

Prosecutors are also expected to present alleged JI members to testify, including Wan Min bin Wan Mat and Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana.

Last year, Ba'asyir was tried on terrorist charges but prosecutors failed to prove his role in terrorist activities. However, the same district court jailed him for four years for immigration offenses and document forgery.

The Supreme Court reduced Ba'asyir's sentence to only 18 months imprisonment and he was subsequently released after his detention expired.

However, Ba'asyir was taken back into custody in April immediately after his release as police found new evidence that he helped plan the Marriott blast in his capacity as the JI leader.

When the hotel was bombed on Aug. 5, 2003, Ba'asyir was serving his term at Salemba penitentiary.

The police linked Ba'asyir to JI through a document that indicated he inducted many recruits of the regional terror group a few years ago at the Hudaibiyah camp in the southern Philippines.

Ba'asyir's lawyer Muhammad Assegaf said he was optimistic that if there was no foreign intervention in the upcoming trial, his client would once again be acquitted.

Assegaf accused the U.S. government of meddling in Ba'asyir's trial as the super power has repeatedly demanded a retrial for the cleric on terror charges.

According to the lawyer, the prosecution did not have a strong case against Ba'asyir.

"From what I have learned, the prosecutors do not have any new evidence. The charges are similar to those already presented in his first trial last year," Assegaf told the Post.