- Title: INDONESIA: MILITANT CLERIC BASHIR MOVES CLOSER TO BALI BOMB CHARGES.
- Date: 25th August 2004
- Summary: (U3) JAKARTA, INDONESIA (AUGUST 25, 2004) (REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) 1. LAS/TILT DOWN/CU: EXTERIOR OF JAKARTA PROSECUTORS' OFFICE; CLOSE-UP SIGN (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. MV/MV/PAN/GV: ABU BAKAR BASHIR WALKING OUT OF BUILDING, WAVING TO JOURNALISTS; BASHIR ENTERING CAR; BASHIR INSIDE CAR TAKING HIM TO CIPINANG PRISON; CAR LEAVING (3 SHOTS) 0.36 3. MCU:
- Embargoed: 9th September 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Reuters ID: LVA5R5K4RWICULPK9YW13VG787NJ
- Story Text: Indonesia's militant Muslim cleric Bashir steps
closer to formal charges.
Militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, accused
of leading the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiah militant
group, is to face formal charges soon after police handed
him over to prosecutors on Wednesday (August 25).
The charges would be a key step forward in Indonesia's
efforts to bring to trial the man whom authorities believe
inspired the militants who bombed nightclubs on the island
of Bali in October 2002 and Jakarta's J.W. Marriott Hotel
last year.
The handover became possible after prosecutors approved
a police dossier setting out the case against the 66-year
old preacher.
The contents of the dossier have not been made public,
but police have said it refers to the Marriott bombing and
Bashir's leadership of Jemaah Islamiah.
"Suspect Abu Bakar Bashir has co-founded Jemaah Islamiah
(JI) and he oversaw its military training, whose graduates
from that training eventually conducted a series of bombings,
including the Marriott blast, " said Haryono, a
spokesman at the Jakarta prosecutors' office.
A suicide bomber blew up a van packed with explosives
outside the Marriott a year ago, killing 12 people.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors' office said it will not
incriminate Bashir in the October 2002 Bali attacks
although there was a link to that case.
Law No. 16/2003 allowed the retroactive application of
a tough anti-terror law adopted after the bombings of two
bars at Bali's famed Kuta beach strip which killed 202
people. In July, however, Indonesia's constitutional court
found it unconstitutional.
Police first arrested Bashir in 2002 after the Bali
blasts on suspicion of treason related to accusations he
led JI, seen as a movement that sought to replace the
government with an Islamic state.
Indonesian courts ultimately rejected the treason
charges but Bashir, who denies the existence of JI and
allegations of his involvement in militant attacks, served
18 months in jail for immigration offences.
After finishing that sentence Bashir was re-arrested on
April 30, with police saying they had new evidence
suggesting he had violated anti-terror laws. They compiled
the dossier submitted to prosecutors on the basis of those.
Bashir's lawyers quickly dismissed fresh charges
against the cleric, citing impossibility for Bashir to be
involved in the Marriott blast for he was already in police
custody.
"Not only was he on trial then, he was in prison for
months already. How could he be charged of being involved
in the Marriott bombing. How could he arrange such an event
while he was in custody. Do we have such a terrible prison
system, which allows its inmates to organise bombings from
its cells," said Bashir's lawyer M. Lutfi Hakim.
In the Indonesian legal system, police put together a
dossier making their case against a suspect and then submit
it to prosecutors who decide to press formal charges, if
any.
Police submitted the dossier this month after removing
references to the Bali blasts following the court decision
on retroactivity.
The anti-terror law allows authorities to hold a
suspect for up to six months before an official charge is
laid.
Bashir has already been held for four months in police
custody, leaving prosecutors two months in which to come up
with a clear charge, or the cleric could be released.
In an impromptu news conference in the warden's office
at Cipinang Prison, flanked by smiling policemen and prison
guards, Bashir kept his defiance and attacked United States
President George W. Bush.
"Up until this moment, I've been confident that the
only reason the police moved to accuse me was because they
were afraid of the threat from America. The George Bush
regime seems to be destined to combat Islam all over the
world, including Indonesia," Bashir said.
"When Marriott happened, I was on trial and that was the
first time I heard the word Marriott. I have never known
about the existence of a Marriott Hotel but still I am
being accused of involvement in the Marriott bombing, " he
added.
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