Police say evidence stacked against Ba'asyir

P.C. Naommy, Jakarta

Police said on Saturday terrorist suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir had planned a series of bombings that hit the country between 1999 and 2002.

"As the amir of a secretive group called Al Jamaah Al Islamiyah, Ba'asyir was responsible for planning the bomb attacks in the country between 1999 and 2002," said National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Soedjono, referring to regional terrorist network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

Police named Ba'asyir a terrorist suspect on April 16 and charged him under Articles 14, 15, 17 and 18 of Law No. 15/2003 on antiterrorism for planning, coercing, abetting and perpetrating terrorist attacks.

Suyitno said police had uncovered evidence pointing to Ba'asyir's role after the Bali bombings trial and the finding of high explosives across the country, such as in Semarang and Bandung.

The JI is a UN-listed terrorist organization blamed for the October 12, 2002 Bali bombings and the August 5, 2003 JW Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta.

Suyitno also referred to documents and the testimonies of terrorist suspects, who said Ba'asyir had recruited new JI members and inspected the corps of new JI recruits on April 1, 2000, at Hudaibiyah military camp in Mindanao, the Philippines.

Another piece of evidence the police will present to support the terrorism charge is the confession of Nasir Abas, who was installed in April 2002 as the leader of JI regional branch Mantiqi III in Surakarta, Central Java, by Ba'asyir. Police also possess biannual JI reports addressed to the cleric.

Suyitno said police had also discovered the JI general operations book, which confirmed Ba'asyir's post as the group's leader.

"It's impossible for Ba'asyir to claim he knew nothing about the bomb attacks, when he was the leader of JI," he said.

Meanwhile, head of Ba'asyir's legal team, Mohammad Assegaff, said the team was ready to defend its client.

"The prosecution of Ba'asyir is a result of U.S. pressure on Indonesia. The U.S. is the first to accuse Ba'asyir of leading the JI in Asia, not Indonesia, and it's a shame that our country has bowed to the pressure," said Assegaff.

Assegaff pointed out that the Supreme Court had rejected the lower courts' ruling that Ba'asyir had set up JI.

"It's not impossible that in the upcoming trial, there will be phony witnesses testifying against ustadz Ba'asyir," said Assegaff, using the Muslim honorific for a high cleric.

He dismissed allegations that Ba'asyir was the planner of a series of bombings, for which JI has been held responsible.

"From what I have heard, the police thought the cleric had known about the Bali bombings only," said Assegaff.