Ba'asyir 'told followers to kill Westerners'

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir went on trial on Thursday for his alleged role in the Bali and Jakarta Marriott hotel bombings, which were blamed on regional terror group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

The trial began in South Jakarta just over a week after the inauguration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has pledged to stamp out terrorism in the country with the world's largest Muslim population.

In a 65-page indictment, prosecutors accused Ba'asyir of planning the attack on the JW Marriott Hotel on Aug. 5, 2003, and inciting his followers to carry out the bombing.

Prosecutor Salman Maryadi accused the cleric of passing on an order from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to JI members at the Hubaidiyah camp in Mindanao, the southern Philippines, in 2000 that "permitted the waging of war against, and the killing of, Americans and their allies".

Some of those who were in attendance at the camp then carried out the attack on the U.S.-based hotel, which killed 12 people, Salman said.

The prosecutor said Ba'asyir also told his followers it was permissible to steal the money of Westerners.

"If their blood is halal (allowable under Islam), so are their belongings," Salman quoted the cleric as saying in April 2001.

Ba'asyir is being charged under the antiterrorism law for the Marriott bombing. If found guilty, he could be executed by firing squad.

Prosecutors leveled a secondary charge of "conspiring" against Ba'asyir for the Oct. 12, 2002, Bali bombings, charging him under the Criminal Code. The charge carries a maximum 20 years in jail.

Salman said Amrozi, who was convicted along with 35 other defendants for the Bali attack, visited Ba'asyir at his house in the Central Java town of Surakarta three months prior to the bombing to seek the cleric's blessing for the attack.

Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Gufron were sentenced to death for their roles in the bombings that left 202 people dead.

Ba'asyir's trial is being held in a large auditorium in the Ministry of Agriculture due to the number of people attending the proceedings. The same auditorium had been scheduled to host the trial of former president Soeharto on graft charges in 2000, before the trial was dropped because the former strongman's failing health.

The white-haired Ba'asyir continues to maintain that he is innocent of all charges and is simply the target of a U.S. conspiracy.

"We should fight against terrorism, but not the terrorism defined by George W. Bush. Those who do not agree with him (Bush) are viewed as terrorists," said Ba'asyir.

The trial was adjourned until Nov. 4, at which time the court will hear from the defense.

Ba'asyir warned the panel of five judges and prosecutors to beware of infiltration by agents of the U.S. and Australia.

Supporters of the cleric from Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia packed the auditorium and shouted "God is great" several times.

The session took place without incident despite a warning from the U.S. Embassy cautioning its citizens that the trial could turn violent.

There was one minor incident when a Ba'asyir supporter attempted to enter the auditorium without a required visitor ID. He scuffled with two policemen and was taken to the South Jakarta Police Headquarters.

About 700 police officers were deployed inside and outside the ministry. A deployment of officers also accompanied Ba'asyir to the building from Cipinang prison, where he has been detained for several months.

Ba'asyir has been in prison since shortly after the Bali bombings. He was cleared of terror charges but convicted of immigration violations during a 2003 trial. He was rearrested after completing his sentence in April of this year and has been detained ever since.