Cleric tells court he had no role in bombings
Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir formally denied in court today any involvement in the Bali and J W Marriott Hotel bombings, saying the attacks that killed 214 people ran counter to his principles.
Testifying at his trial in a court in Jakarta, Indonesia, the 66-year-old Bashir also denied he knew anything about Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaida-linked regional terror group that he is accused of leading.
“I could not have supported the Marriott and Bali bombings because they were committed in places of peace and not conflict zones,” the white-bearded Bashir said.
He is charged with inspiring his followers to carry out the 2002 bombings in the resort island of Bali, which killed 202 people, and the Marriott bombing in Jakarta in 2003 that killed 12 people. Jemaah Islamiyah is blamed for a series of other attacks across the region as well.
Bashir has insisted he is innocent and that he’s being prosecuted for his critical views of the United States. His denials usually come during comments to reporters or in response to witness testimonies. Today was the first time Bashir directly addressed the accusations in court after prosecutors read out the charges.
He told the South Jakarta District Court that the bombings were against his doctrine of “jihad” which he described as an act of self defence.
Bashir was arrested and convicted shortly after the Bali bombings on immigration charges, and was in prison at the time of the Marriott attack. He completed his sentence in April but was re-arrested immediately for alleged involvement in the bombings.
Bashir said he was not even aware of Jemaah Islamiyah until he went on trial.
“I only heard the term Jemaah Islamiyah in my trials. Even during my 15-year stay in Malaysia, I never heard that term,” said Bashir, who had fled to Malaysia in 1983 to escape imprisonment for alleged subversion during the rule of then President Suharto.
Bashir returned in 1998 after the dictator’s downfall and was cleared of the charges. He remained free until his troubles began in 2003.
The hearing was adjourned until next week when prosecutors are scheduled to submit their sentencing demand.
The United States and Australia, which lost scores of citizens in the Bali carnage, have publicly accused Bashir of being a key terror leader. But only one of the scores of prosecution witnesses has implicated Bashir in any terrorist activity.
Earlier this month, Fred Burks, a former US State Department interpreter, testified that one month before the Bali bombings, Washington urged Indonesia to arrest Bashir and send him to America.
Burks said a US envoy made the appeal in a meeting with former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who declined to fulfil the US president’s request.
