Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Jafaar Umar Thalib, who heads one of Indonesia's top militant groups that is allegedly involved in bloody sectarian clashes in the Malukus and Sulawesi, went on trial yesterday.
Dressed in white robes, Jafaar was trailed by over 150 supporters who demonstrated outside the south Jakarta courtroom, chanting "God is great".
He appeared unmoved as he was charged with defaming President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Vice-President Hamzah Haz, defaming the regional government and provoking people to break the law.
Jafaar, who has denied all charges of wrongdoing, faces a maximum penalty of seven years in jail if convicted.
He was arrested in May for inciting violence through a fiery sermon where he urged those attending Friday prayers to attack Christian separatists and ignore a newly signed peace deal. His trial actually began two weeks ago but prosecutors did not read out the charges then because he claimed to be under stress.
"The Muslims of Maluku will never stop fighting the Christian separatists until the government arrests them and brings them to trial," said prosecutor Slamet Rijanto, repeating the Laskar Jihad leader's sermon.
Two days after he spoke, unidentified attackers raided the Christian village of Soya and massacred 13 people.
Jafaar, who is not in custody, told the court yesterday: "Grammatically, I understand what I am charged with but I don't understand why those charges are brought against me since I was speaking inside a mosque and I was only doing my religious duty." The hearing was adjourned until August 29.
The trial is being closely watched by the United States, which hopes that Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim population, could aid the war against terrorism.
A diplomat following the case said that despite numerous witnesses who could have testified that Jafaar urged Muslims to attack Christians, the Attorney-General was not able to press the heavier crime of inciting violence due to a lack of evidence.
Indonesian rules do not allow a tape-recording of the sermon to be used as evidence against him unless he verifies that the recording was his voice.
Jafaar's lawyer Mohamad Mahendradatta criticised the case, saying the defamation charges impinged on freedom of expression. "It's a thin line between libel and protest," he said. Jafaar was just a scapegoat for the government's attacks on Muslims groups, he added.
The case is seen as a litmus test for Indonesia on how it will deal with militant groups, particularly the Muslim ones, which have been involved in various violent conflicts.
The authorities have been quick to crack down on the Christian separatist group, the South Moluccas Republic movement (RMS). Its leader Alex Manuputty was arrested in April and is due to stand trial on Monday on charges of subversion. Some analysts have said that the government has been reluctant to crack down on Laskar Jihad for fear of appearing unIslamic, despite evidence that the group had violated the law by carrying weapons and their suspected involvement in numerous attacks.
Others, however, say that the case is a step forward, given the pressure from Muslim politicians, such as Mr Hamzah, to drop the charges against Jafaar.
The militant leader and his followers, all of whom wear white Arabic-style robes, have waged launched a jihad in the Malukus and Sulawesi over the last two years. He has justified the violence by saying that his Muslim brothers were under attack in the two provinces.