Terrorists' testimonies to be used to quiz Ba'asyir

Terrorists' testimonies to be used to quiz Ba'asyir

P.C. Naommy and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surakarta

Testimonies by suspected terrorists now detained in neighboring
countries will be used to investigate elderly cleric Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir's involvement in terrorist activities, an officer says.

"Police already have several testimonies from witnesses in the
Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore on the cleric's involvement
(in terrorist activities)," National Police chief of detectives
Insp. Gen. Suyitno Landung Soedjono said on Tuesday.

According to Suyitno, the witnesses mentioned the involvement
of the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI) chairman in terrorist
activities.

He revealed neither the names of the witnesses nor terrorist
activities Ba'asyir was implicated in.

Ba'asyir, who is currently serving a one-and-a-half year jail
term for immigration violations and document forgery, was
scheduled to be questioned on Wednesday (today), but Suyitno said
on Tuesday that no date had been officially set for the
questioning.

He did say, however, that the police already had permission
from the Directorate of Penitentiaries to take Ba'asyir to the
National Police Headquarters for questioning.

Ba'asyir's lawyer, Mohammad Ali, said earlier that police had
sent a letter to the Salemba penitentiary to say that they needed
the Muslim cleric for questioning under Law No. 15/2003 on
terrorism.

Another lawyer, Mohammad Assegaff, told The Jakarta Post on
Tuesday that Ba'asyir would not attend the planned interrogation
as the police had not officially issued a summons letter to the
cleric.

"The letter is important so that the Uztad can prepare his
defense," said Assegaff.

He said the fact the planned questioning came after the United
States had handed over 125 transcripts of their investigation
into suspected terrorist Riduan Isamuddin, alias Hambali, proved
that the world's only superpower has compelled Indonesia to press
charges against Ba'asyir.

"The U.S intervention in this case is an insult to Indonesian
legal sovereignty and the Supreme Court," he said.

Ba'asyir, who was elected MMI chairman at its first congress
in 2000, has been accused of being the leader of regional
terrorist group Jamaah Islamyiah (JI), which police investigators
blamed as being behind a series of terrorist attacks across the
country since 2000, including the Bali bombings, which killed
over 200 people and the Marriott Hotel attack, which killed at
least 14 people.

Meanwhile, at least 183 students from the Al Mukmin Islamic
boarding school in Surakarta left for Jakarta on Tuesday to
accompany Ba'asyir.

"The police have arbitrarily treated and slandered Abu by
saying that he may be involved in the Bali bombing," said
activist Umar Kasim.

In their media statement, the students demanded that President
Megawati Soekarnoputri dismiss National Police chief Gen. Da'i
Bachtiar for bowing to U.S. pressure by sending Ba'asyir to jail.

The students also alleged that members of the Islam Defenders
Front in Jakarta would participate in protests against the
questioning of Ba'asyir.