MMI to push for sharia at congress
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
The Indonesian Mujahidin Assembly (MMI), an extremist Muslim group headed by terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, will convene its second congress next month in an attempt to pursue the enforcement of Islamic sharia law in the predominantly Muslim country.
The group was one of those behind demands the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) include the Jakarta Charter in the 1945 Constitution during the Annual Session in 2002. Most MPR factions rejected including Islamic law in the Constitution.
MMI chairman Irfan S. Awwas said on Tuesday that the upcoming congress would focus on creating concrete programs to ensure sharia was implemented in Indonesia.
"We have made up our mind not to move a bit from our ultimate goal of establishing Islamic law in the country," he told a news conference in Yogyakarta.
The three-day congress will be held from Aug. 10 to Aug. 12, 2003, in the Central Java city of Surakarta. Its main agenda also includes hearing Ba'asyir's accountability speech and to elect new members of the MMI's Ahlul Hali wal-Aqdi (board of experts).
However, it remains unclear if Ba'asyir will be permitted by the Central Jakarta District Court to appear as he is standing trial for plotting to kill President Megawati Soekarnoputri in 1999, when she was vice president.
"We are waiting for the confirmation from the court as to whether it will allow Ustadz (teacher) Abu Bakar Ba'asyir to attend the congress to present his accountability speech," Irfan said.
He said the MMI did hope the court would allow its request for the temporary release of Ba'asyir to attend the congress.
Irfan argued that it would be discriminatory if the court rejected the request as other convicted criminals remained free, including House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung who has been jailed for corruption.
"Ustadz Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is not convicted yet. I don't see that there are reasons for the court not to give him the same opportunity as that given to Akbar Tandjung," Irfan said.
However, he said that should Ba'asyir be prevented from attending the congress, the MMI would attempt to have his accountability speech recorded in a video to be heard during the meeting.
Ba'asyir is the alleged spiritual leader of the Jamaah Islamiyyah (JI) regional terror network blamed for the devastating bomb blasts in Bali, which killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, on Oct. 12 last year. He has denied the charges.
The Surakarta-based MMI was established in 2000 with the main objective of establishing sharia in Indonesia, home to some 220 million people, more than 85 percent of whom are Muslims.
The group held its first congress in Yogyakarta and agreed that the first step towards achieving its goal was to educate the public about Islamic law.
The education programs included organizing seminars and dialogs, and publishing MMI's own version of the sharia-based constitution, Irfan said.
"So far, we consider it (the move) a success, although we have encountered a stormy situation during this particular period."
Around 800 MMI activists will attend the congress, which is to be opened at the Manahan Square, Surakarta.
Several Muslim figures, including preacher Zainuddin MZ, Din Syamsuddin of Muhammadiyah, Alawy Muhammad of the United Development Party (PPP), former head of the Indonesian Intelligence Agency (Bakin) Z.A. Maulani and Husein Umar of the Islamic Preaching Council (DDI), have confirmed their attendance at the meeting.
The congress committee has invited National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar to deliver a speech about the security authority's stance on the implementation of sharia in Indonesia and its relations with terrorism.
Da'i is yet to respond to the invitation.
The MMI claims to have established 38 executive boards in regencies and municipalities, and 10 others in provinces across the country, namely West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, East Java, Central Java, West Java, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, South Sumatra, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi.