One of Ba’asyir’s lawyers, Achmad Michdan, said the cleric laughed when he was told he faced the death penalty.

“When I will die is God’s business. I put my faith in Him,” Michdan quoted Ba’asyir as saying Tuesday.
Prosecutors read the 100-page indictment at his trial at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday in the presence of hundreds of Ba’asyir supporters.

The founder of Jamaah Anshoru Tauhid (JAT) and the head of the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Central Java, faces seven terrorism-related charges under the 2003 Antiterrorism Law and the Criminal Code.

Ba’asyir was indicted for alleged involvement in establishing a militant terrorist training camp in Aceh, which was raided by the National Police’s Detachment 88 counterterrorism unit in February last year. The squad arrested Ba’asyir in Ciamis, West Java, six months later.

The camp was allegedly established as a base for al-Qaeda in Southeast Asia.

He has also been charged with involvement in mobilizing acts of terrorism and raising Rp 1.14 billion (US$127,680) to set up the Aceh camp and buy firearms, such as AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition.

“The defendant instructed JAT members to donate money to support terrorism, raising Rp 80 million from supporters in Bima, Rp 160 million from supporters in Surakarta, Rp 25 million from those East Java and Rp 250 million in Bekasi,” prosecutors M. Taufiq said.

Prosecutors also charged Ba’asyir for the deadly robbery of an Internet cafe and a Bank CIMB Niaga branch in Medan, North Sumatra. The weapons used in the robberies were allegedly bought using the raised funds.

Prosecutors told the court Ba’asyir also made incendiary comments at a sermon in Medan in July 2009. He told those attending the sermon they had to conquer an area to launch a jihad, or holy war, prosecutors said.

They added that Ba’asyir told his men that robbery and murder were condoned by Islam when committed against “infidels”, which he defined as non-Muslims and rulers who did not implement Islamic law.

“The defendant has also said that infidels, who are the enemies of Islam, are those who do not want this country Indonesia to be an Islamic state. The enemies are America, the Jews and their allies, Christians and the government,” a prosecutor said.

At the hearing, Ba’asyir complained to judges over the armored vehicle used to bring him to court.

“I want to ride in an ordinary vehicle. I have problems getting into and out of this one,” the 72-year-old cleric said, adding that he suspected the vehicle was used to justify the terrorism-related charges against him.

“Detachment 88 is hyping my trial.”

Ba’asyir’s first hearing last Thursday was adjourned on technicalities. This trial marks Ba’asyir’s third appearance before a court on terrorism-related charges. However, prosecutors failed to find him guilty of terrorism in his first two trials.

In 2002, Ba’asyir was arrested in connection with the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings of churches across the country in which 18 people were killed. The court, however, cleared him of terrorism charges and sentenced him to three years in prison for adopting a false identity. His sentence was subsequently reduced to 20 months for good behavior.

— JP/Bagus BT Saragih

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