Evidence against Ba'asyir 'sufficient'

Evidence against Ba'asyir 'sufficient'

Damar Harsanto and Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police said on Monday they had sufficient evidence and
witnesses to send detained Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir to
court over his alleged role in several offenses, including in a
string of bombings across the capital in 2000, stressing that the
cleric's silence would not hamper the investigation.

"We have sufficient evidence and witnesses to take Ba'asyir to
court," National Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo told
The Jakarta Post.

Prasetyo asserted that the police were not required to obtain
an admission of guilt from Ba'asyir as there was strong evidence,
including statements from "local witnesses as well as documents,"
to support the investigation.

Prasetyo, however, declined to mention the names of any of the
witnesses, citing concern for their safety.

Ba'asyir was officially declared a suspect and placed under
police detention on Saturday, one week after police forcibly
removed him from Muhammadiyah Hospital in Surakarta, Central
Java, where he was being treated for respiratory problems. He was
transferred to the police hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta,
where he has since stayed.

However, he has refused to answer any questions of
investigators and instead proposed conditions in exchange for his
cooperation.

Police are investigating several charges on Ba'asyir based on,
among other things, confessions obtained from Omar al-Faruq and
other suspects detained in the Philippines, Singapore and
Malaysia.

In addition to the bombing charge, Ba'asyir, 64, is also
accused of treason for planning to assassinate then vice
president Megawati Soekarnoputri and of violating immigration
law. If convicted, Ba'asyir may face the death sentence.

Based on confessions from suspects in Singapore, Malaysia and
the Philippines, police asserted that Ba'asyir was acquainted
with al-Faruq, who is believed to be one of Osama bin Laden's top
operatives, whose mission it was to launch terrorist attacks
across Southeast Asia.

Ba'asyir, who is also leader of the Al Mukmin Islamic boarding
school in Ngruki, Surakarta in Central Java, is also wanted by
Singapore and Malaysia for terrorist activities there. Ba'asyir
is one of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)'s top leaders along with the late
Abdullah Sungkar and Riduan Isamuddin, alias Hambali.

The United Nations has declared JI a terrorist group for its
links to al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's organization, that is
considered responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S.

Indonesia was among 45 countries that supported Australia's
proposal to include JI on the UN terrorist list although
Indonesian authorities have repeatedly denied the existence of
any terrorist cells here.

Many believe that JI was behind the Oct. 12 bombings in Bali
following the confession of al-Faruq, who is now in the custody
of the U.S. authorities. Al-Faruq claimed that US$74,000 had been
transferred by a Saudi Arabian donor to JI operatives in
Southeast Asia to purchase explosives that could have been used
in the Bali bombings.

However, police have so far not linked JI with the Bali
bombings.

Ba'asyir's lawyer Mahendradatta defended his client's silence.

"Pak Ustad (cleric) insists that the police bring al-Faruq to
Indonesia," Mahendradatta said.

Mahendradatta also said Ba'asyir still refused to sign his
detention warrant.

"To sign it (the detainment warrant) means to bow down to
international pressure," Ba'asyir said as quoted by his lawyer.

However, Mahendradatta said Ba'asyir would let the police have
the final say.

In another development, the pretrial hearing on Ba'asyir's
objections to his arrest and detainment at the South Jakarta
District Court failed to achieve significant results as the
police legal defense team asked for a delay to prepare a response
to the lawsuit. Presiding Judge Tjaroko Imam adjourned the
hearing until Tuesday.

Adnan Buyung Nasution, coordinator of Ba'asyir's team of
lawyers, urged the police to stop questioning Ba'asyir during the
pretrial proceedings.

"Otherwise, they are simply ignoring the proceedings," Buyung
said.

However, police insisted they would continue to question
Ba'asyir, saying that police investigators had no obligation to
comply with Ba'asyir's demands.

"The police will not allow a delay in detention just because
Ba'asyir has been uncooperative during the police investigation
by remaining silent," Prasetyo said.

Police have no plan to transfer Ba'asyir to the National
Police detention cell due to his poor health, Prasetyo said.

"We simply want to take care of Ba'asyir's health during the
investigation ... Besides, we can also determine whether he is
feigning illness to avoid further questioning," said Prasetyo.