Ba'asyir's arrest above board: VP

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Vice President Hamzah Haz, once a staunch defender of terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, applauded on Tuesday the police arrest and detention of the Muslim cleric, saying that they had conducted their duties professionally.

"The police have done their job in a professional manner and I think there is no intervention at all in the whole process," Hamzah said when asked about the arrest of Ba'asyir.

In an apparent move to console his constituents, Hamzah, the chairman of the largest Muslim-based party in the country, said he may visit Ba'asyir in the future as an expression of sympathy from one Muslim to another.

He refused to say when he would visit.

"It won't be a problem to visit him because as a Muslim we have to visit those in trouble."

His comments come in the middle of a public furor over the police action in bringing Ba'asyir from his hospital bed in Surakarta, Central Java, to Jakarta for questioning on Monday.

Ba'asyir's lawyers claimed police had forcefully taken their client from the hospital and even wrecked the hospital room where Ba'asyir was being treated.

On Tuesday, SCTV television aired the incident, picturing how Ba'asyir's followers tried to block the police from doing their job in questioning him as a suspect, which provoked the police to use force to remove him from his room.

Ba'asyir was named a suspect on Oct. 20, the same day he was admitted to the PKU Muhammadiyah hospital in Surakarta, for his alleged involvement in a string of bombings in the country in 2000 and an alleged plot to assassinate President Megawati Soekarnoputri last year.

The charges against Ba'asyir carry the death penalty.

The police said Ba'asyir had had enough time to consult with doctors and get medical treatment before he was taken to Jakarta.

National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the police had notified Ba'asyir of his arrest before he was admitted to hospital.

"We conducted everything in accordance with procedure. We notified him and gave him the time to improve his health condition. And then, we had to take him," Da'i said.

Even after Ba'asyir was brought to Jakarta, he was given another four days to rest at the police hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, before the questioning even started.

Ba'asyir has been placed under tight security in the hospital. His condition is being monitored before police start the interrogation.

The hospital was also surrounded by dozens of civilian guards from the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), which is chaired by Ba'asyir.

The police's treatment of Ba'asyir has angered his lawyers, who lodged a lawsuit against police on Monday at the South Jakarta District Court over alleged irregularities during the arrest, including claims of insufficient evidence.

The hearing is slated to be held on Thursday.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Basyir Achmad Barmawi said the police were ready to face the lawsuit.

"We have been ready. The police will be responsible for all actions which have been taken (in Ba'asyir arrest)," Basyir said, saying the investigators had taken into consideration the possible impact of their actions.

He also played down rumors about possible extradition of Ba'asyir to the United States.

"We have no bilateral agreement on such an extradition process with the United States. That's why it's impossible to extradite Ba'asyir," Basyir said.