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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesian Muslim cleric to be charged (linked to Bali nightclub bombings.) |
| 2004-09-24 |
| Indonesian prosecutors are to file charges next week against detained cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the attorney-general's office has said. Ba'asyir faces charges of leading the Jemaah Islamiah militant network and involvement in the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last year. Ba'asyir has also been linked by police to the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. But a spokesman for the attorney general said he would not be charged in connection with that attack. Spokesman for the attorney general's office, Kemas Yahya Rahman, told Reuters news agency that as well as being charged in connection with the Marriott Hotel attack, Ba'asyir would also be charged with possessing illegal explosives found during in a raid on a house in central Java last year. "We are sure that we have strong evidence and witnesses to charge him with terrorism," Mr Kemas said. "He could get the death penalty if found guilty." Ba'asyir has consistently denied any links with either JI or terrorism. He was arrested shortly after the Bali attacks - and therefore was actually in custody during the Marriott bombing - but the only crime he has so far been convicted of is violating immigration laws. He was acquitted of being the spiritual leader of JI in September 2003. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |