Police place Ba'asyir under detention
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police placed Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, a suspect for his alleged role in a string of bomb attacks across the country, under their custody on Sunday following his arrest overnight Saturday.
Surakarta police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Bambang Hermanu said more officers were deployed to guard Ba'asyir at the Muhammadiyah Hospital where he is being treated for heart and respiratory ailments.
Bambang, who visited Ba'asyir on Sunday, told Antara the team of police doctors believed the suspect's condition was improving but he remained unfit for questioning.
Ba'asyir could have been arrested earlier when terrorist suspect Omar al-Faruq, who is in the custody of United States authorities, alleged on Friday that Ba'asyir was involved in the bombings.
But the police wasted time issuing a summons to question Ba'asyir, the chairman of Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI).
The police had intended to take Ba'asyir from the hospital to Jakarta for questioning and to ensure the suspect was kept in police custody once he recovered.
But one of Ba'asyir's lawyers, Mohamad Assegaf, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday that the questioning would be better held in Surakarta, because "my client will feel at peace here near to his family, relatives and pupils".
Ba'asyir, 64, who many allege has links to the hardline Jemaah Islamiyah, was rushed to hospital on Friday after a one-hour media meeting at his al-Mukmin Ngruki Islamic boarding school. During the meeting he denied all accusations made against him, including involvement in the terrorist blasts in Bali.
Earlier Friday, he was named a suspect following the confession from al-Faruq over Ba'asyir's role in various bomb attacks, including the blast at the Istiqlal Mosque in April 1999 and a plot to assassinate President Megawati Soekarnoputri before she assumed power.
Ba'asyir was questioned earlier this year for clarification of his activities while he was in self exile in Malaysia in the early 1990s.
Ba'asyir and the late Abdullah Sungkar are alleged to have established Jemaah Islamiyah, an organization the United States has proposed for inclusion in the list of banned terrorist groups.
Police said Ba'asyir was named a suspect without questioning him because they had been collecting information on him for a long time, including from al-Faruq, who is said to be a top al- Qaeda representative in Southeast Asia.
The police charged Ba'asyir under articles in the Criminal Code and Emergency Law No. 12/1951 on the illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The charges carry a maximum penalty of death.
Ba'asyir, who fled to Malaysia in 1983 to escape charges under former ruler Soeharto's regime for rejecting Pancasila state ideology, is also accused of having violated Law No. 9/1999 on immigration for entering and leaving the country without official documents.