Ba'asyir to remain in police custody

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

National Police announced on Tuesday that they would continue to detain Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir despite the Constitutional Court ruling that Law No. 16/2003 on the retroactivity of laws was unconstitutional, arguing that the cleric was suspected of involvement in other terrorism-linked crimes besides the 2002 Bali bomb attacks.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono said that the police would continue the investigation and detention of Ba'asyir under Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism because Ba'asyir was the leader of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

The JI is a UN-listed terrorist organization blamed for the Oct. 12, 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people died, and the Aug. 5, 2003 JW Marriott Hotel attack in Jakarta, which claimed 12 lives.

"The court only annulled Law No. 16/2003 but not Law No. 15 on terrorism, so we can continue to detain him using the Terrorism Law. Ba'asyir is the leader of JI, which is responsible for several bomb attacks after the Bali bombings," said Suyitno.

Law No. 16/2003 was issued specifically to enable authorities to charge the Bali bomb suspects under Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism.

Police named Ba'asyir a terrorist suspect in April 16 for planning, coercing, abetting and perpetrating terrorist attacks.

Ba'asyir was arrested in October 2002 on terror charges, after the Bali bombings. Last year, however, he was found guilty only of immigration offenses and document forgery, and sentenced to 18 months after appealing to the Supreme Court.

Suyitno said the police would use other laws, such those under the Criminal Code, against Ba'asyir and other suspects in the Bali bombings.