Muslim cleric likely to get presidential pardon
Annastashya Emmanuelle and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra has recommended that President Megawati Soekarnoputri pardon Abu Bakar Ba'asyir as the Muslim preacher's conviction on subversion charges had been rendered irrelevant due to the passage of time.
Although the timing of the pardon had yet to be decided, Yusril has given clear indications that Ba'asyir is very likely to be absolved of the subversion conviction that was handed down under the 1963 subversion law, which was repealed in 2000 by then president Abdurrahman Wahid.
"All political prisoners convicted under the law have been released. Therefore, it would be strange to make an exception in his case," Yusril told reporters after a Cabinet meeting here on Thursday.
Yusril also said that he had met with the Attorney General and the chief of the National Police regarding the matter.
"It's up to the President to decide. But I have submitted my proposals," he said.
Ba'asyir, a Muslim cleric accused by neighboring Singapore of having links with the international al-Qaeda terrorist network headed by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, is facing a nine- and-a-half-year jail as a result of his conviction on subversion charges in 1985.
Ba'asyir said on Thursday that he would never accede to being imprisoned based on the verdict.
"It's as if I were torturing myself all over again. Why should I go through that again when the law is not valid anymore?" Ba'asyir argued.
His lawyer, Nasrun Kalianda, added that they were scheduled on Thursday to meet with Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan on the possible issuance of a Supreme Court direction regarding the verdict's validity.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit in which Ba'asyir is seeking more than US$100 million from Singapore over Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's remarks tying Ba'asyir to terrorism remained stalled on Thursday.
The South Jakarta District Court postponed the hearing until May 16 as Singaporean officials failed to turn up for the second time.
"If the defendant does not appear after the third hearing then the panel of judges will issue a verdict based on the prevailing laws," presiding Judge Zoeber Djayadi told the hearing on Thursday.
The verdict could either be a decision to drop the case or to award damages of Rp 1 trillion ($107.4 million) against Singapore to Ba'asyir.
Some 500 members of the militant Islam Defense Front (FPI) attended the hearing in support of Ba'asyir.
Last month Singapore's foreign affairs ministry said that under international law its government and embassy in Jakarta enjoyed immunity from legal proceedings in Indonesia.