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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesian police reject legal bid to spring Bashir |
| 2004-09-01 |
| Indonesian police rejected a legal bid to release terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir, saying they have indisputable evidence of the Islamic cleric's involvement in a Jakarta hotel bombing. Bashir's lawyers have brought a lawsuit against police anti-terror forces for wrongfully arresting and detaining the cleric on a warrant linking him to the October 2002 Bali bombings. The April 30 arrest, made as Bashir stepped out of jail having served time on other charges, was made prior to a ruling by Indonesia's top court outlawing the retroactive use of a new anti-terror law to cover the Bali attacks. But following last month's Constitutional Court ruling, police amended the charge sheet, principally tying him to an August 2003 attack on Jakarta's Marriott hotel that left 12 dead. Police lawyer Syitono told a pre-trial hearing in Jakarta that Bashir was also linked to the uncovering of a haul of weapons in Semarang, a city on the island of Java. "Based on the result of expanded investigation, the plaintiff is not only linked with the Bali bombings but he is also connected with the Marriott bombings and the discovery of weapons and explosive in Semarang," he said. Prosecutors have confirmed that Bashir will appear in court charged with the Marriott attack under the tough new anti-terror law, which carries a possible death sentence. The legal challenge by Bashir's lawyers, on which judges will rule next Monday, is the latest hitch in the battle to bring the elderly cleric to court, but few expect it to succeed. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |