The terrorism trial of Indonesia's Abu Bakar Bashir wrapped up in characteristically fiery fashion, with the Muslim cleric telling judges they would face God's punishment if they convicted him.
The 66-year-old preacher has been on trial since October and is facing charges linked to a series of attacks blamed on the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah. The court is due to issue its verdict and any sentence on Thursday.
Prosecutors have accused Bashir of failing to prevent Jemaah Islamiyah militants allegedly under his leadership from carrying out terror attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings, and have sought an eight-year jail sentence. Making his final defence plea, Bashir urged judges to throw out what he called "trumped up" charges.
"If the panel of judges are convinced that the prosecutors' charges are intended to aid the infidels who have evil schemes – the United States – the judges are obliged to disavow and categorically reject them to avoid unwanted consequences in the hereafter," Bashir told the trial.
Bashir, who has maintained that he is being framed by US President George W. Bush for campaigning for Islamic law, also warned prosecutors that they would face God's wrath.
"I'm sure that what the prosecutors are doing is against their will and against their conscience as Muslims. They have been ordered by their leaders who are under pressure from the enemy of Allah, George Bush," he said.
"Such leaders will lead them to hell," he said, urging the prosecutors to repent. "It is better to have menial jobs than holding positions that will bring catastrophe in the hereafter," he said.
The cleric is on trial for his alleged link to a series of deadly bombings in recent years blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah, the most deadly of which, the Bali nightclub bombings, claimed the lives of 202 people.
Prosecutors insisted that Bashir as the alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiyah knew of his subordinates' activities, including bomb-making classes at a militant training camp in the southern Philippines.
Prosecutors dropped a primary charge that Bashir and his supporters actually planned the attacks or that Bashir incited his followers to engage in terrorism, saying they had insufficient evidence. However, they said evidence showed he was guilty of involvement in acts of terrorism.
One of Bashir's lawyers, Wirawan Adnan, said he feared that the judges would be pressured into handing down a guilty verdict and heavy sentence despite what he called flimsy evidence. "It's quite possible for the judges to issue a heavy verdict because they want to save their career. But, so far I have not seen any indication of pressure from the government," he said.
Bashir, who was cleared in 2003 of leading Jemaah Islamiyah, was released from jail in April last year after serving a sentence for an immigration offence. He was immediately rearrested by police, who said they had new evidence of terror links and of his leadership of Jemaah Islamiyah.
Prosecutors in their indictment said Bashir, as Jemaah Islamiyah chief, visited a rebel training camp in the Philippines in April 2000 and relayed a "ruling from Osama bin Laden which permitted attacks and killings of Americans and their allies".
Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for numerous attacks including a suicide bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta last September that killed 11 people.