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Indonesia defends terrorism trial verdict Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Indonesia Defends Terrorism Trial Verdict
Defense Attorneys Call Indonesian Terror Trial Verdict a Political Compromise
The Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia Sept. 3 —
Attorneys for a radical Muslim cleric convicted of sedition but cleared of heading a Southeast Asian terror group said Wednesday the verdict was politically motivated, while Indonesia's government defended the ruling as showing its commitment to fighting terror.
Abu Bakar Bashir was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for his involvement in a plot by the al-Qaida-linked group, Jemaah Islamiyah, to overthrow the Indonesian government and lesser charges of faking travel documents and entering Indonesia illegally.
But the panel of five judges cleared Bashir of the main charges of leading Jemaah Islamiyah, saying prosecution witnesses relied on hearsay and therefore lacked credibility.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda defended the decision,.
"We have shown that we are committed in fighting terrorism," Wirayuda said. "We may be disappointed with the sentencing but there is due process of law here."
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Wednesday he was "disappointed" that the court ruling didn't find that Bashir was head of Jemaah Islamiyah or link him to the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, 88 of them Australian.
"Because many of us here in Australia believe that he was at least the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah and therefore at least knew about the attack in Bali, we are disappointed that he wasn't convicted on that and didn't get a longer sentence," Howard said.
Bashir, who denies all charges, said he will appeal the verdict, while his lawyers said the verdict was a compromise between foreign pressure for a conviction and insufficient evidence of serious wrongdoing.
"It was a political compromise. The judges were just trying to save face," said Bashir's lawyer Mahendradata, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.
"They did not have enough evidence to even implicate him in acts of sedition. But they had huge (political) pressure to convict him," the lawyer added.
Foreign governments, including neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, have urged Indonesia to investigate Bashir's role in Jemaah Islamiyah as part of a wider crackdown on extremism.
Indonesian courts are not usually seen as independent when handling high-profile cases.
Bashir, 65, who remains in police custody, claimed the witnesses being held under draconian security laws in Singapore and Malaysia were coerced into testifying. He also accuses the United States and Israel of fabricating the charges against him.
Legal observer Muhammad Andi Asrun from Judicial Watch, a nonprofit watchdog, said prosecutors failed to provide stronger testimonies to back up the charges.
"It was their downfall. They weren't ready," he said.
He also faulted the judges for not giving Bashir a harsher sentence for his involvement in Jemaah Islamiyah, which is blamed for recent terror attacks in Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
"The judges knew they were treading on shaky grounds. They were unsure of their guilty verdict so they gave him a light sentence. It is a very politically motivated decision," he said.
Bashir was not charged with involvement in the Bali blasts or the Aug. 5 bombing of Jakarta's Marriott Hotel, which killed 12 people.
About 30 suspects have been arrested in the Bali case. One of the convicted bombers has been sentenced to death and prosecutors have asked for the same punishment for two more defendants.
Bashir runs a religious boarding school in Central Java. Many of its graduates are wanted by Indonesian police on suspicion of terror attacks, including the Marriott bombing.
The trial was politically sensitive for President Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose coalition government depends on the support of moderate Muslim parties. Her vice president, Hamzah Haz, has in the past expressed support for Bashir's campaign for the imposition of Islamic law in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Analysts said Indonesian authorities are eager to curb extremism but worried about alienating mainstream Islamic opinion and provoking a backlash.
Indonesia expert Jeffrey Winters, a professor at Northwestern University, said the prosecution highlighted the inadequacies of the country's legal system.
"The Bali case proved that system is fully capable of carrying out investigations, prosecutions and handing down even the harshest sentences when dealing with ordinary citizens," Winters said.
"But it comes unstuck when confronted with cases involving members of the military, political, business and religious oligarchies," he said.
photo credit and caption:
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who is the alleged spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah network, listens to the judges reading his verdict, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2003, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The court sentenced Bashir to four years in prison. He was accused of allegedly heading the terror network blamed for a string of bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines as well as plots against Western targets elsewhere in the region. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett)
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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