Suspected terrorist Ba'asyir goes on trial for treason, bombings
Suspected terrorist Ba'asyir goes on trial for treason, bombings
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Central Jakarta District Court opened the trial on Wednesday
of the alleged leader of regional terrorist network Jamaah
Islamiah (JI) on charges of treason.
Many view the trial as being a test case of the country's
resolve to fight terrorism.
The prosecution in its 25-page indictment charged Ba'asyir,
64, with being the leader and mastermind of a treasonable
conspiracy aimed at toppling the legitimate government and
establishing an Islamic state in the country. If convicted, he
faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Ba'asyir, who is identified as the emir, or leader, of JI, was
also charged with procuring fake identification papers, a charge
that carries a maximum jail term of five years.
The police also announced on Wednesday they had arrested 17 JI
members, including Nazar Abbas, the alleged leader of JI's third
region covering Sabah, Brunei Darussalam, Kalimantan, Sulawesi,
and the Southern Philippines. Three of them have been implicated
in the Bali bombings.
Around 500 police personnel were deployed around the trial
venue -- the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) building in
Kemayoran, Central Jakarta -- where some 300 supporters of
Ba'asyir had gathered.
All visitors to the court were examined with a metal detector
and asked to leave their identity cards with security officers
before entering the building.
The Wednesday morning session of the trial, which is being
presided over Justice Muhammad Saleh, started at 10 a.m. and
ended at about 11.30 a.m.
"The defendant gave his blessing to the plan to bomb a number
of Indonesian cities including the Christmas Eve 2000 bombings,"
stated prosecutor Hasan Madani said.
Nineteen people were killed and scores more injured when a
spate of bombings hit dozens of churches across the country on
Christmas Eve in 2000.
Reading out the indictment, Hasan said the bombings were
designed to shake the government and to encourage Indonesian
Muslims to wage jihad.
Ba'asyir was also accused of approving a plot to bomb U.S.
interests in Singapore and ordering the assassination of
President Megawati Soekarnoputri when she was still vice
president.
Ba'asyir, wearing a long white robe and white skullcap, sat
impassively throughout the session.
Asked by the judges if he understood the charges, Ba'asyir
replied: "Yes, God willing." Asked if he would submit a defense
plea, he said: "Later. I don't accept the charges."
"I strongly object to this trial. The whole thing is slander
fabricated by the United States," Ba'asyir said after the
hearing.
The trial will resume on April 30.
Pressure has been increasing for Indonesia to try suspected
terrorists following the deadly Bali bombings on Oct. 12, 2002
that killed at least 202 people and injured 350 others. Before
the bombings, the government denied JI's presence in the country
and shrugged off foreign criticism that it was soft on terrorism.
Defense lawyer Mahendradatta said the indictment was just a
rehashing of a document produced by the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA), which had previously been published by TIME
magazine.
The indictment, he said, also revived the dichotomy between
Islam, the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.
Separately, Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Adj. Comr.
Sukrawardi Dahlan disclosed that he had deployed about 500 police
officers to guard the trial.
The bomb squad searched the courtroom before the hearing began
while both regular and paramilitary police stood guard around the
building.
Police closed the approach road to the court and two water
cannon were stationed nearby.
About one hundred supporters, many of whom came from
Ba'asyir's Islamic boarding school in Surakarta, Central Java,
were on hand outside the court to provide moral support for
Ba'asyir.
They unfurled banners reading: "A Muslim cleric is detained;
the corrupt are protected", and "Who Is The Real Terrorist?"
Chronology of Ba'asyir detention
----------------------------------------------------------------
- Oct.20, 2002 : Ba'asyir was arrested, but was not put
into detention from Oct. 20 through Nov.1, 2002.
- Nov.2 - Nov.21, 2002 : Put into detention.
- Nov.22 - Dec.31, 2002 : Detention extended by Jakarta
Prosecutor's Office.
- Jan.1 - Jan.30, 2003 : Detention extended by South Jakarta
District Court.
- Jan.31 - March 1, 2003: Detention extended by South Jakarta
District Court.
- Feb.28 - March 19 2003: Detained by State Prosecutors
- March 20 - April 18 : Detention extended by South Jakarta
District Court.
April 23 : Trial begins