Police to question Ba'asyir Monday

JAKARTA: Police detectives are set to question Abu Bakar Ba'asyir at the National Police Headquarters on Monday after the suspect was transferred last Saturday from the Soekamto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.

"Ba'asyir was transferred because his health is has improved and he is stable enough to be questioned," the National Police director of general crimes, Brig. Gen. Arianto Sutadi, said as quoted by www.detik.com online news provider on Sunday.

"Besides, we can save a lot of money by conducting the questioning here at headquarters. It would be very expensive to question him at the hospital," he added.

Ba'asyir, the leader of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), has been charged with attempting to assassinate Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was the vice president at the time of the alleged attempt, and with involvement in the Bali bombing. The police do not as yet have any hard evidence against Ba'asyir.

Ba'asyir is still refusing to be questioned by the police unless they meet his terms of, among other things, publicly apologizing for his forcible arrest and releasing from police detention.

Meanwhile, the coordinator of the Medical Emergency Rescue- Committee (Mer-C), Yose Rizal, said his committee had yet to get approval from the police to check Ba'asyir's health.

"Ba'asyir may look just fine physically, but as a person with a history of heart problems and his condition is easily affected by even the slightest psychological threat," he said.

"The police are being very arrogant in their actions, including transferring him (Ba'asyir) to the detention house." -- JP