Indonesian Supreme Court Clears Court overturns cleric's Bali bomb conviction

Indonesian Supreme Court Clears Militant Cleric Ba'asyir

03:19 PM, December 21st 2006
by Playfuls Team/DPA

A team of Indonesian supreme court judges Thursday cleared Muslim militant cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, alleged spiritual leader of terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), from all charges of involvement in the 2002 Bali and 2003 JW Marriot hotel bombings, his attorney said.

"I have received the news that he is freed from all bombing charges and that his name will be rehabilitated," Mahendradatta, the cleric's lawyer told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"They decided this after hearing all witnesses deny Ba'asyir involvement in the bombings, previous court statements were basically all lies," Mahendradatta told dpa.

The supreme court dismissed the cleric's involvement in the 2003 JW Marriot hotel bombing which left 12 people dead, although a district court had ruled on his involvement in a previous trial.

"Obviously, previous courts made a big mistake," he said.

Ba'asyir, 64, was first arrested one week after the Bali bombings on October 12, 2002. He was put on trial the following year, and lacking enough evidence to prove Ba'asyir was a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, he was sentenced to 18 months for immigration offences.

Police re-arrested Ba'asyir in late April 2004, immediately after his release from jail, and charged him under Indonesia's new anti- terrorism law, passed in the wake of the 2002 Bali bombings which left at least 202 people dead, mostly foreign tourists.

He was sentenced to 30 months in prison in March 2005 after the court found him guilty of having a role in planning the bombings.

Ba'asyir has consistently denied involvement in terrorism and says he is being victimized because he campaigns for the introduction of strict Islamic law in Indonesia.

The aging preacher walked free in June after completing a 26-month sentence. His original prison term was reduced due to time spent in detention and an additional reduction received on the occasion of Indonesia's 60th independence anniversary in August 2005.

Australian and US officials had criticized Indonesia for giving him a relatively light sentence and for subsequently reducing the term, although some analysts questioned the conviction, arguing that foreign powers had pressured Indonesia into securing it on flimsy evidence.