Baasyir thinks Aceh military training sessions are OK

Firebrand cleric detained for terrorism charges Abu Bakar Baasyir said Tuesday through his lawyer that the military training sessions in Aceh were justifiable according to Islam.

"The training sessions are allowed as long as it they are not for evil purposes such as robbery," lawyer Muhammad Luthfi Hakim said Tuesday.

He said that Baasyir thought that those sessions were allowed if those participating were preparing to travel to countries in which Islamic communities were oppressed, such as Afghanistan.

However, Luthfi said that Baasyir's statement was unrelated to whether he funded the training sessions. "We have denied [the involvement] from the start," he said.

Luthfi said Baasyir thought that those participating in the training sessions should be charged under the 1951 Emergency Law on Illegal Possession of Firearms.

"But Bashir also thinks that the law should be reviewed," he said.

According to the law, those who illegally possess and/or use firearms could face the death penalty, a life sentence or a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.