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| Southeast Asia |
| Protesters Demand Cleric's Release [But RI Government Ain't Stupid] |
| 2004-07-30 |
| EFL. The whole thing is a nice update on what's going on. Laksamana.Net - Supporters of detained radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir, the alleged spiritual leader of regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah, have urged police to drop their investigation into his suspected role in terror attacks and release him. * * * But police are adamant that Baasyir (65) will be charged under Law No.16/2003 on the Elimination of Terrorism Crimes, which carries the maximum penalty of death. The Constitutional Court on July 24 ruled that the retroactive use of the law to cover the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings was unconstitutional and violated basic legal principles. The ruling does not overturn the law, but merely states that it cannot be used to prosecute crimes that were committed before the legislation was enacted. Court officials have said the decision will not alter the cases of 33 militants already convicted over the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. * * * National Police criminal investigation chief Commissioner General Suyitno Landung on Wednesday said Baasyir will no longer be charged with involvement in the Bali bombings because of the Constitutional Court's ruling. But he said the cleric will remain charged with involvement in other terror-related crimes, including the August 2003 suicide bombing of Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people. "We are now working on our charges that he is the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah and is responsible for other bombings," Landung was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. Police have accused Baasyir of presiding over a graduation ceremony at a Jemaah Islamiyah training camp in the southern Philippines in 2000 in his capacity as the group's spiritual leader. He is also accused of involvement in a bomb plot in the Central Java capital of Semarang last year. "He also was an inspector of the Moro Hudaibiyah camp and there are six-monthly reports addressed to him so that the charges against Baasyir can still be based on the anti-terror law," Landung was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. "He is also linked to the findings of bombs in Semarang at Jalan Sri Rejeki which involves members claiming to belong to Jemaah Islamiyah where Baasyir is the leader," he added. [snip] |
| Posted by:cingold |
| #1 His supporters argue that he should be freed under Sharia law, Section 1, Pargraph 1, Line 1: "When dealing with infidels, no Muslim is ever guilty of anything, anywhere, at any time.". Oh, look. It's the only line in the book. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-07-30 10:51:10 PM |