Verdict due in trial of alleged terrorist group leader

A court in Indonesia was today due to deliver its verdict in the trial of the alleged spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.

Abu Bakar Bashir, a 64-year old radical cleric, allegedly headed 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.

Bashir, who ran a religious boarding school in Central Java, was arrested in the immediate aftermath of the October 12 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. He has not been charged with involvement in that attack or the August 5 bombing of Jakarta’s Marriott Hotel which killed 12 people.

Prosecutors say that under his leadership, Jemaah Islamiyah plotted to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri with the wider aim of establishing an Islamic state in Indonesia.

Bashir also has been charged in a series of church blasts throughout Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2000 that killed 19 people.

Prosecutors say those attacks were designed to destabilise the country of 210 million people, mostly Muslims, with the aim of overthrowing its secular republican government and setting up a fundamentalist state.

The trial – which was scheduled to end today with the announcement of the verdict – is politically sensitive for Megawati, whose coalition government depends on the support of moderate Muslim parties.

Representatives of these parties, including her own vice president, Hamzah Haz, have in the past expressed support for Bashir – who maintains his innocence and says he has been framed by the intelligence services of the US and Israel.

Analysts say that in contrast to the dozens of obscure radicals who carried out the attack in Bali – where a special tribunal already has delivered its first death sentence – Bashir remains influential in religious circles in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country.

Perhaps as a reflection of the sensitivities involved, state prosecutors have asked the court to sentence Bashir to only 15 years in jail, instead of demanding the maximum life sentence.

“This case is being seen as a litmus test as to whether the Indonesian government is getting serious in cracking down on (Muslim militants),” said Ken Conboy, country manager for Risk Management Advisory, a Jakarta-based security consultancy.

“The Bali bombing verdict was welcome but a lot of people are waiting to see what kind of benchmark the verdict against Bashir will set.”

Mr Conboy also warned that Jemaah Islamiyah may retaliate in the event of a guilty verdict by mounting fresh attacks in Indonesia or elsewhere.

“It would be wrong to see a legal victory against Bashir as a stake into the heart of Jemaah Islamiyah,” he said. “It has grown into a broader organisation now and can survive the capture of its leaders.”

In Canberra, the Australian government issued a travel advisory warning its citizens in Indonesia to “exercise extreme caution” and urging Australians to defer all non-essential travel to Indonesia, citing fears of further attacks amid the ongoing trials.

Others say if Bashir is locked up, it could inspire another generation of Islamic extremism.

“His incarceration may serve as a rallying call for another rise of Islamic militancy in the region,”

said Andrew Tan, a security analyst at Singapore’s Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies.