Security concerns increase ahead of Ba'asyir verdict
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Amid growing security concerns over possible terror attacks, the Central Jakarta District Court is expected to deliver its verdict in the treason trial of cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir on Tuesday.
Ba'asyir, 65, is charged with plotting the assassination of then vice president Megawati Soekarnoputri and violating immigration law, offenses that are punishable by 15 years in jail if he is found guilty.
He has also been accused of heading the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a shadowy organization believed to have links with the al-Qaeda terror network, although no formal charges have been laid against him in this regard.
JI has been blamed for the string of bombings that has hit the country in recent years, including the Bali blasts in October 2002, which killed 202 people, and the JW Marriot Hotel bombing in Jakarta in early August of this year, which claimed 12 lives.
Ba'asyir is also linked to the bombings of churches on Christmas Eve 2000, in which 19 people died.
The defendant has repeatedly claimed that his trial had been stage-managed by the Indonesian government to satisfy the United States' drive in its fight against terrorism.
During his last-ditch effort on Wednesday to avoid the 15- month jail sentence demanded by prosecutors, Ba'asyir said he had only been involved in a peaceful campaign for the adoption of sharia in Indonesia.
The trial began on April 23, but the cleric has been detained since October last year, following his arrest while hospitalized in the Central Java town of Surakarta.
Ahead of Tuesday's session, the Jakarta police have bolstered security measures within the perimeters of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency building in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, where the trail has been taking place.
A police source disclosed that the Jakarta Police would deploy 1,300 personnel to guard the trial.
The increased security measures came as hundreds of Ba'asyir's supporters left for Jakarta from Surakarta, Central Java, the home of his Ngruki Islamic boarding school, and the East Java town of Lamongan, the hometown of the key suspects in the Bali bombings, the brothers Ali Ghufron, Amrozi and Ali Imron.
Prior to their departure, they demanded that the panel of judges acquit Ba'asyir of all charges.
As of Monday evening, Ba'aysir's supporters were going to stay the night in a number of mosques in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.
In anticipation of possible trouble, the Australian government has issued a warning to its citizens traveling to Indonesia of possible retaliation from Ba'asyir's supporters.
"Australians should note that the verdict in the Abu Bakar Ba'asyir trial is due to be handed down on Tuesday, 2 September. As the current travel advice notes, the trials of extremists by the Indonesian authorities could prompt a strong reaction from their supporters, including possible demonstrations or acts of terrorism," the travel advisory read.
It said that accordingly, the Australian government was taking this opportunity to remind Australians in Indonesia to exercise extreme caution, and further advised Australians to avoid the area where the trial was taking place -- Jalan Angkasa, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta -- on Sept. 2.
Earlier, the U.S. government renewed its warning of possible terror attacks in Indonesia. The potential remains throughout Indonesia for violence and terrorist actions against U.S. citizens and interests,"