Lack of evidence blamed for Ba'asyir's light term

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surakarta

The lenient prison sentence handed down on Thursday for cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir stemmed from the failure of the prosecution to present sufficient evidence against him, analysts said.

Prominent Muslim scholar and political analyst Azyumardi Azra pointed out that prosecutors did not have strong evidence to directly link Ba'asyir to a series of terror attacks.

"I think the main reason for the light sentence is because prosecutors, and before that the police, failed to provide convincing evidence against Ba'asyir," he told The Jakarta Post.

He added that a difference of opinion among the panel of judges caused by the weak evidence also prompted them to sentence Ba'asyir to just 30 months in prison for conspiracy to commit terror.

However, Azyumardi, the rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, praised the judges for being independent.

"The verdict clearly shows that the judges were independent. During the trial, the messages were clear that our judiciary system could not be influenced by certain countries' interests," he said.

Similarly, Dewi Fortuna Anwar of the Habibie Center think tank said Ba'asyir's sentence did not satisfy anyone and was due to a lack of evidence against the cleric.

"In the end, the verdict does not satisfy anybody. Foreign governments are disappointed, while his supporters at home are also disappointed, for different reasons," she told AFP.

Dewi said the prosecutors failed to provide concrete evidence on Ba'asyir's involvement in terrorism, because unless the suspect was directly involved, it would be very hard to prove under the legal system here.

"Foreign governments are convinced that Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is the spiritual leader of Jamaah Islamiyah based on intelligence they have. But intelligence data cannot be used in our judicial system," she added.

Australia and the United States, who have accused Ba'asyir of leading the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) militant group blamed for the Bali bombings and other attacks, were quick to criticize the verdict as "disappointing".

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that his government had always known that Ba'asyir was privy to the Bali attack and that, as the JI spiritual leader he could have stopped it, but chose not to.

"It's satisfying that he has been convicted (but) it's disappointing that the sentence is just for two-and-a-half years," he was quoted by AFP as saying.

Downer said he would have liked a longer sentence and urged the prosecution to consider appealing against the sentence.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Max Kwak stated that although the U.S. respected the independence of Indonesia's judiciary and welcomed the conviction, they were disappointed by the lenient sentence.

Ba'asyir, 66, was cleared by the South Jakarta District Court of more serious terrorism charges, including that of heading JI, but was found guilty of involvement in a "sinister conspiracy" that led to the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali which, left 202 people dead.

The preacher was also cleared of involvement in the 2003 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which left 12 people dead.

Regret was also expressed by Ba'asyir's supporters, who said the verdict against him was due to the influence by the U.S. and its allies in Indonesia.

Students at the Ba'asyir-founded Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Central Java, said they were convinced that the preacher would remain in jail even before the verdict was issued.

"Prophet Muhammad was also mocked and hurt by infidels when he preached for Islam," explained a student from the school.

Al-Mukmin principal Wahyudin said the court decision was a tyrannical and unjust act against Ba'asyir.

However, Mahyudin said Ba'asyir's students would not object to the verdict and that they trusted the team of lawyers in doing their utmost to defend the cleric.

"By dragging Ba'asyir into court, it shows how strong the influence of the United States and its allies is in Indonesia. Making Islam look negative in the eyes of the world has become a key part of their agenda," Wahyudin said.