Muslim cleric likely to get presidential pardon
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under the 1963 subversion law, which was repealed in 2000 by then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.