Prosecutors to bring Ba'asyir to court before Sept. 20
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Alleged Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir will be brought to trial before Sept. 20 to answer charges regarding his role in a series of terrorist attacks across the country, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) said on Tuesday.
Spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said prosecutors would finish preparing charges against Ba'asyir within 20 days.
"Usually we finish preparing charges in two weeks and so we should be able to bring him to court before the (20-day) time limit," Kemas said.
Under existing laws, prosecutors have to prepare their indictments against defendants within 20 days.
Ba'asyir, cofounder and chairman of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), was rearrested on April 30 shortly after he finished an 18-month sentence for immigration and document forgery.
Ba'asyir was first arrested in October 2002, shortly after the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, on terrorism charges. He was tried on the charges last year but prosecutors failed to prove his involvement in terrorism activities. However, he was found guilty of violating immigration laws and document forgery and sentenced to 18 months in jail after an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Police announced on Tuesday they would hand over Ba'asyir and evidence to the AGO before Aug. 30 because they had received a letter from the prosecutors announcing the Ba'asyir case file was ready for trial.
National Police counterterrorism division director Brig. Gen. Pranowo said police would hand over Ba'asyir to prosecutors before an Aug. 30 deadline after keeping him in custody for four months.
Police had to make minor revisions to Ba'asyir's case file after the Constitutional Court ruled in late July that suspects in the Bali bombings could not be charged under Law No. 16/2003 on the retroactive application of the Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism.
Police had earlier 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 terrorism for planning, coercing, abetting and perpetrating terrorist attacks. He could face a death sentence if convicted.
Pranowo said since April police had arrested nine terror suspects, who have been accused of hiding two Jamaah Islamiyah ringleaders, Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Moh. Top Azahari and Noordin are still at large.
"We arrested five (of the suspects) in Surabaya and four in Surakarta and subsequently brought them to police headquarters (in Jakarta) for intensive questioning," Pranowo said.
In April, police arrested five people in Sukoharjo, Surakarta, Central Java, for their alleged involvment in series of 2002 bombings and the 2003 JW Marriott Hotel bombing. The five were subsequently transferred to Denpasar, Bali.
In July, police also arrested two men -- Ismail and Sonhadi -- and two men identified only by their initials -- UL and UB -- in Surabaya. On Aug. 4, cleric Saifuddin Umar was also arrested in the city.
Pranowo would not say whether all the of suspects' testimonies would be used in Ba'asyir trial.