Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir says charges that he was behind the deadly Bali and Marriott Hotel bombings were trumped up by US President George W. Bush and his "slave" Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
"Everyone knows, even schoolchildren know, that it's Bush and his slave John Howard. This trial is taking place at the behest of Howard," the 66-year-old cleric told reporters on Thursday outside his Jakarta prison.
The trial is being held at an auditorium at the Agriculture Ministry in Ragunan, South Jakarta, due to reasons of space and security.
"Anything that doesn't fulfill Bush's interests is considered terrorism by Bush," he said on arriving at the trial venue. Baasyir then challenged Bush to prove the charges made against him of being a terrorist. "That's certainly his view. What's important is proving it," he said. The cleric insisted he was innocent. "Clearly I feel I am not guilty. I'm convinced of that."
Hundreds of reporters were present for the opening day of the trial and had to wear special identity cards issued by South Jakarta District Court.
About 65 members of Baasyir's Indonesian Mujahidin Council arrived at the makeshift courtroom at 7.45am. They promised not to disturb the peace and police allowed them to enter auditorium at 9am. Before being permitted entry they had to give their identity cards to police. There was a massive police presence around the trial venue, including 700 officers and two water canons.
Inside the court, Baasyir's supporters shouted "Allahu Akbar [God is Great]" as he entered the building. They ceased the chant when the cleric raised his hand to request their silence.
He identified himself before the court and prosecutors then commenced the three-hour-long process of reading out the 65-page indictment. After that, Baasyir obtained permission to address the five-member panel of judges on three matters that he said proved the US and Australia were behind his detention and trial.
First, he said, the US consul in the North Sumatra capital of Medan had complained to state prosecutors when an alleged terrorist, whom he could not name, had been acquitted. Second, he said, his prolonged detention was "clearly ordered by the US". Third, he added, American and Australian diplomats had recently complained to prosecutors and judges when charges of immigration violations against Islamic radical Abu Jibril were dropped. "So the judges must be on their guard against Allah's enemies, the US and Australia, based on these three events," he said.
Chief prosecutor Salman Maryadi responded to Baasyir's third argument by pointing out that Jibril had never been acquitted, but was actually sentenced to five months and 15 days in jail for immigration violations.
The charges
Prosecutors accused Baasyir of being the spiritual leader of regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed for the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, and the August 2003 blast at Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people. Baasyir was charged under Law No.16/2003 on Anti-Terrorism and under the Criminal Code.
The anti-terror law was used to charge him in relation to the Marriott bombing, the establishment of a terrorism training camp at Mindanao in the southern Philippines, and the discovery of a cache of explosives in Central Java in July.
He is charged with: planning and/or inciting acts of terrorism; using his position to influence and/or persuade others to commit acts of terrorism; conspiring to commit acts of terrorism; deliberately assisting terrorists; and withholding information on acts of terrorism. If convicted of the terrorism offenses he could face the death penalty.
Baasyir could not be charged over the Bali bombings attacks under the anti-terror legislation because the Constitutional Court in July ruled that the law cannot be applied retroactively. Instead, the prosecution used the Criminal Code to charge him over the Bali attacks. Prosecutors said he was part of a "sinister conspiracy" behind the bombings and that in August 2002 he gave one of the bombers, Amrozi, tacit approval to carry out the plan.
According to the indictment, when Amrozi met with Baasyir in the Central Java city of Sukoharjo to seek his blessing to carry out "an agenda" in Bali, the cleric had replied: "It's up to you because you know the situation in the field." If convicted under the Criminal Code, Baasyir could face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Terror training camp
Prosecutors said that Baasyir, in his capacity as the Emir (spiritual leader) of Jemaah Islamiyah, had conspired with Imron Baihaki to establish the Hudaibiyah Camp in the southern Philippines in order to train terrorists.
They said Baasyir, while in Indonesia, received regular reports from camp commander Baihaki on developments in the training of militants. The court heard the camp had taught its recruits how to assemble, transport and plant bombs, how to use firearms, as well as engineering, fighting and guerrilla warfare tactics.
Baasyir was accused of visiting the camp in April 2000 to inspect a graduation ceremony of 2,000 militants. During the ceremony, he allegedly told Baihaki pass on an edict from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden – who he had met in Afghanistan – that the US and its allies must be opposed. According to the indictment, the edict "permitted the waging of war against and the killing of Americans and their allies".
Prosecutors said those who had studied at the camp included four men involved in the Marriott bombing: Ismail, Tohir, Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top.
Ismail is serving a 12-year jail sentence for transporting and storing the explosives used in the attack and assisting in the assembly of the bomb. Tohir is serving a 10-year sentence for buying the vehicle used in the attack and helping to transport the explosives.
Malaysian citizens Azahari and Noordin have been accused of involvement in the Bali bombings and of masterminding the Marriott bombing. They are also suspected of masterminding the September 9, 2004, bomb blast that killed 11 people outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The two remain at large, apparently in Indonesia, and police have warned they could be planning more attacks.
Former student
The prosecution said Baasyir was accompanied during his visit to the terror training camp in the Philippines by Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi. Al-Ghozi, a self-confessed member of Jemaah Islamiyah, had studied in the 1980s at Baasyir's Al-Mukmin Islamic Boarding School in Ngruki, near the Central Java city of Solo.
He was shot dead in the Philippines in October 2003 after escaped from a high-security Manila jail, where he was serving a 17-year sentence for possession of more than a ton of explosives. Part of the cache was used to blow up a Manila train and other targets in December 2000, killing 22 people; while the remainder was to have been used against Western targets in Singapore, including the US and Australian embassies.
Al-Ghozi had also admitted to involvement in the August 2000 bombing outside the Central Jakarta resident of former Philippine ambassador Leonides Caday. The explosion, which killed two people and left 21 injured, was allegedly carried out to avenge attacks on Abu Sayyaf separatists in the southern Philippines.
Release request
Defense lawyer Achmad Michdan asked the court to release Baasyir from prison on "humanitarian grounds" due to his frailty and advanced age. He guaranteed that Baasyir would not try to escape, destroy material evidence or carry out any criminal actions if released.
"Ustadz [teacher] Bakar has been continually detained since the New Order era [of former president Suharto] until now, whereas hoodlums are allowed to roam free," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal. "We ask the judges to consider postponing his detention and to avoid external pressure," he added. Presiding judge Sudarto said he will consider the request when the trial resumes next Thursday.
Prosecutors are expected to call more than 70 witnesses to prove their case against Baasyir. During Baasyir's treason trial last year, most of the evidence incriminating him as the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah came from detained Jemaah Islamiyah members in Singapore and Malaysia.
In contrast to last year's trial, when Baasyir read Islamic books, refused to speak and generally ignored proceedings, he is now paying close attention. Nevertheless, after the indictment against him was read out, the cleric said he was "still confused". Under Indonesian law, the trial must conclude within five months.
Background
Baasyir was first arrested back in 1978 and sentenced to nine years in jail for subversion for links to two outlawed Islamic militia groups. He was released from prison in 1982 and fled to Malaysia in 1985 to escape further charges. It was while in Malaysia that he allegedly co-founded Jemaah Islamiyah.
He returned to Indonesia following the May 1998 resignation of Suharto and resumed his role as head of the Al-Mukmin Islamic Boarding School.
Police arrested Baasyir on October 19, 2002, in the aftermath of the Bali bombings, but authorities at that time were unable to produce any hard evidence linking him to the attacks.
Although an avowed supporter of bin Laden, Baasyir has consistently denied any involvement in Jemaah Islamiyah and insists all of the accusations against him are part of a US-led conspiracy to discredit Islam.
In September 2003, Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Baasyir to four years in prison for treason, immigration violations and forging documents. But the court said he was not guilty of leading Jemaah Islamiyah or masterminding a plot to use religious violence to overthrow the government and assassinate then president Megawati Sukarnoputri.
In December 2003, Jakarta High Court announced it had overturned the cleric's treason conviction and reduced his jail sentence to three years. In March 2004, the Supreme Court further reduced the sentence to one and a half years.
The sentence reductions meant the cleric was released on April 30 – at which point police immediately re-arrested him, citing new evidence to charge him with leading Jemaah Islamiyah.