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.