Court produces more information on JI

Court produces more information on JI

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A court hearing has produced more information on the Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group but has not proven a direct link
between its leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and the charges of trying
to topple the government through its terror campaign in a bid to
set up an Islamic state in the country.

Mas Slamet Kastari alias Edi Haryanto, 42, testified about
JI's existence in South East Asia, calling it "an informal
organization".

"It is only a common religious group," he told the Central
Jakarta District Court.

Slamet and four other witnesses gave their testimony during
the trial of Ba'asyir who went for his alleged involvement in a
series of blasts in the country in 2000 and 2001. The defendant
was arrested at his Islamic Boarding School in Ngruki, Solo,
Central Java, last October. The court session was presided over
by Judge M. Saleh.

Slamet, chief of the JI chapter in Singapore, was arrested for
document forgery in Pekanbaru, Riau, last year.

The organization's establishment, Slamet said, was aimed at
"developing followers and society in accordance with God's law."

He said that the organization did not commit violence in its
daily activities, however he admitted that the group had planned
to attack American interests in Singapore.

"It is only a plan, (it) has not materialized," Slamet said.

Slamet told the court that he served as the Singaporean
chapter head of JI since 1999 following an initiation by JI
founder Abdullah Sungkar, who died later that year.

He said that Hambali, who leads the JI regional command for
South East Asia, gave him a letter about his appointment as the
Singapore JI wakalah.

Hambali, aka Riduan Isammudin from Java, is a key suspect in
the 2001 Christmas Eve blasts and the Oct. 12, 2002, deadly Bali
explosions, but is still at large.

Slamet acknowledged that JI actually had two main regional
commands -- one for Singapore/Malaysia and the other for
Indonesia.

Asked about the last succession in the organization, Slamet
failed to confirm whether Ba'asyir replaced Sungkar in as the
overall leader of JI Sungkar died.

"What I know is that Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was very close to
Abdullah Sungkar and it is possible that he replaced him," Slamet
said.

He told the court that Ba'asyir's sermons were "purely
religious, and did not touch on politics nor did they contain
hostile statements against the Indonesian government."

The other four witnesses said that they had no knowledge about
JI or whether Ba'asyir was the leader.

A witness told the court they knew Ba'asyir only from his
speeches and sermons, including one at a graduation ceremony in
2000.

Other witnesses claimed they knew Ba'asyir from "newspapers
and TV only."

If found guilty for the subversion charges, Ba'syir may be
imprisoned for up to 20 years.

The UN has declared JI a terrorist group after its underground
Islamic movement in Malaysia was uncovered, its involvement in a
series of blasts in the Philippines in 2001 and the planned
bombing of U.S. interests in Singapore.