Police chief Da'i Bachtiar says Ba'asyir's silence is not golden

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar warned on Sunday that Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, a detained suspect for a series of bomb attacks in Jakarta in 2000, would worsen his situation as a consequence of his refusal to answer police questions.

"His refusal to clarify casts doubt on his innocence," Da'i told reporters at Halim Perdanakusuma airport, where President Megawati Soekarnoputri departed for the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.

"A suspect can remain silent, a right recognized by the Criminal Code Procedure (KUHAP), but of course the refusal to speak will play havoc with his or her legal status," Da'i said.

He insisted police would keep on seeking approval from Ba'asyir to undergo the questioning through his lawyers, otherwise the investigation would continue and charges would be filed based on available testimonies from witnesses.

Ba'asyir has demanded the police apologize to him, the PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital and Muslim clerics, bring in Omar al-Faruq and suspend his detention as the conditions for his acceptance to cooperate with police.

Legal expert Luhut M. P. Pangaribuan said a suspect had a chance to clarify or defend his or herself during questioning.

"Let the judges determine whether Ba'asyir's silence hampered the investigation. But with or without Ba'asyir's statement, the police can still prosecute the case using testimonies of witnesses.

"As the consequence, the testimonies would likely be accepted as the truth without the suspect's counterstatement," he told The Jakarta Post.

Ba'asyir, who chairs the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), is being treated at the police's Raden Said Sukanto Hospital in Kramatjati, East Jakarta.

He was scheduled to undergo questioning in his room on Saturday, but his refusal to answer the police's questions stalled the procedure.

According to lawyer Mahendradatta, Ba'asyir preferred to talk before the court rather than to the police who he said never had the intention to question him but only to arrest and detain him based on blind prejudice.

"The questioning is only an accessory to this show of force. And our client deemed the police will use his words against him in the court," he told the Post on Sunday.

Ba'asyir demanded police apologize because of his forcible transfer from the PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital in Surakarta, Central Java to the police-owned hospital here. At least six students of the Islamic boarding school Ba'asyir is running and six police officers were injured in the clash that marred his transfer.

Police are said to be basing their charges against Ba'asyir on accounts from al-Faruq, an alleged al-Qaeda operative who was arrested in June and is being detained by U.S. authorities in Afghanistan. Al-Faruq was suspected of masterminding a series of bombings and a plot to assassinate Megawati Soekarnoputri before she assumed power.

Al-Faruq's testimony also linked Ba'asyir to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network in Southeast Asia through Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) Ba'asyir founded while in self-exile in Malaysia in the early 1990s.

The police apologized to Muslim people and Surakarta's PKU Muhammadiyah hospital for the incident last week.

Da'i said the police could not produce al-Faruq, saying he was not within Indonesia's jurisdiction.

"We have used al-Faruq's statements for the investigation. Another possibility is to produce al-Faruq to testify before the court, but only if the judges order it," Da'i said.

Separately, Australian Attorney General Daryl Williams said on Sunday that Ba'asyir visited Australia 11 times to spread the influence of the now outlawed JI.

Ba'asyir has filed a pretrial lawsuit with South Jakarta District Court against the police for removing him without prior notice. The first hearing of the legal fight is scheduled for Monday.