- Title: INDONESIA: CLERIC ABU BAKAR BASHIR ARRIVES FOR VERDICT IN HIS TREASON TRIAL.
- Date: 2nd September 2003
- Summary: (W3) JAKARTA, INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 2, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/MV: SECURITY OUTSIDE COURT (2 SHOTS) 0.08 2. GV/CU: SUPPORTERS OF ABU BAKAR BASHIR WAITING OUTSIDE; BANNER SAYING "MUJAHIDINS ARE ANTI-TERRORISTS, YEARN FOR PEACE"; CLOSE UP OF SUPPORTERS IN HEADSCARVES (3 SHOTS) 0.23 3. CU: ARMED SECURITY (2 SHOTS) 0.34 4. GV/MV: SUPPORTERS GOING THROUGH METAL DETECTORS (2 SHOTS) 0.45 5. GV: BASHIR ESCORTED INTO COURT BUILDING, CROWDS OUTSIDE SHOUTING "GOD IS GREATEST" 0.48 6. MV: BASHIR WAVING TO JOURNALISTS 0.55 7. GV/CU: SUPPORTERS BEHIND GATE SHOUTING "GOD IS GREATEST" (2 SHOTS) 1.03 8. MV/PAN: BASHIR WALKING TOWARDS COURT BUILDING 1.08 9. GV/MV: PANEL OF JUDGES INSIDE COURTROOM; CAMERAMEN (2 SHOTS) 1.17 10. MV/PAN/MV: BASHIR ENTERING COURTROOM, SUPPORTERS SHOUTING "GOD IS GREAT"; AUDIENCE (2 SHOTS) 1.40 11. CU:(SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) BASHIR ADDRESSING SUPPORTERS, SAYING: "I appeal for calm in this court room. You can shout takbir (praises to God) but do not create chaos because that is not in the teachings of Islam" 1.53 12. CU: SUPPORTER LISTENING 1.57 13. SIDE CU: (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) BASHIR SAYING: "If there is someone who tries to create disorder, that person will be an American provocateur. God willing it won't be from someone from the Mujahiddin Council or from the Muslim youths. So I appeal for your calm and together maintain the security. Believe that we will achieve victory as long as we keep defending Allah's ways. Thank you" 2.21 14. GV:BASHIR TAKING DEFENDANT'S SEAT 2.27 15. MCU: JUDGE BEGINS READING OUT VERDICT 2.33 16. GV/CU: CLOSEUP OF BASHIR LISTENING (2 SHOTS) 2.46 17. LV/PAN: PAN OF COURT ROOM 2.56 18. GV/CU/MV: SUPPORTERS CHANTING OUTSIDE; VARIOUS OF PORTEST (3 SHOTS) 3.13 19. MCU; (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) SUPPORTER, JAMAL ALDIN, SAYING: "If the judge ended up giving jailtime to Ustad Abu Bakar Bashir, we--from the Indonesian Mujahidin Council--as well as all Muslims who supported Abu Bakar Bashir as a great Ulema, no longer believe in the existing laws--it's discriminating." 3.40 20. MV/CU: SUPPORTERS TRYING TO GET IN TO COURT HOUSE; POLICE SCUFFLE PREVENTING SUPPORTERS FROM ENTERING ALREADY FULL COURT HOUSE (2 SHOTS) 3.54 21. CU: WATER CANON OUTSIDE 4.00 22. LAS: ARMED SECURITY (2 SHOTS) 4.11 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 17th September 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Reuters ID: LVAYZGKA0C2NZN6PNMV7XUAZE9U
- Story Text: Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir arrives for the
verdict in his treason trial.
An Indonesian court sentenced cleric Abu Bakar
Bashir to four years in jail on Tuesday (September 2) for
taking part in acts of treason, in a case widely seen as a
test of the willingness of the world's most populous Muslim
nation to crack down on radical Islam.
Bashir, described by officials as the spiritual leader
of the Jemaah Islamiah network accused of plotting and
carrying out attacks across Southeast Asia, had rejected
the charges and denounced the prosecutors as lackeys of the
enemies of Islam.
Officials have linked the Jemaah Islamiah group to al
Qaeda.
Hundreds of Bashir's supporters gathered outside the
building where judges are expected to announce whether he
spends the next 15 years in jail.
The supporters, some in military-style fatigues with
red and white checked headscarves covering their faces,
chanted "Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) as they awaited the
arrival of the wispy-bearded Bashir.
There were as many police on the scene as Bashir
supporters, with water cannons at the ready outside.
Bashir appealed to his rowdy supporters to stay calm
before taking his seat in the courtroom.
The panel of five judges allowed Bashir, clad in a
white cap and shawl over a black jacket and reddish sarong,
to make a brief statement before the session began.
"I appeal for calm in this court room. You can shout
takbir (praises to God) but do not create chaos because
that is not in the teachings of Islam," Bashir told his
supporters.
"If there is someone who tries to create disorder,
that person will be an American provocateur. God willing it
won't be from someone from the Mujahiddin Council or from
the Muslim youths. So I appeal for your calm and together
maintain the security. Believe that we will achieve victory
as long as we
keep defending Allah's ways," he added.
Some analysts see the trial as a fresh test of
Indonesia's willingness to get tough with militants in the
wake of bombings in Bali last October which killed 202
people and at a Jakarta luxury hotel last month which
killed 12.
While Indonesian authorities have been vigorous in
their pursuit of Bali bombing suspects, one of whom has
already been sentenced to death, none had the public
profile of Bashir.
Bashir -- charged with treason linked to church
bombings that killed 19 people three years ago and also to
an aborted plot to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri
when she was vice president -- says he was set up and has
denied all accusations as well as any knowledge of Jemaah
Islamiah.
If the court convicts him and gives him the full
15-year sentence prosecutors have asked on charges of
treason and immigration violations, it could effectively be
a life sentence for the bespectacled Bashir, who at 65 is
troubled by bouts of
ill-health.
Outside the court, hundreds of supporters who could not
enter the court room waited on the streets to hear the
final verdict.
"If the judge ended up giving jailtime to Ustad Abu
Bakar Bashir, we--from the Indonesian Mujahidin Council--as
well as all Muslims who supported Abu Bakar Bashir as a
great Ulema, no longer believe in the existing laws--it's
discriminating," said supporter Jamal Aldin.
The judges were expected to read in the next few hours
a lengthy summation of the trial before delivering their
verdict and sentencing later on Tuesday.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
