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Abu Bakar Baasyir moved to isolation cell in Nusakambangan
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Police officers escort terrorism convict Abu Bakar Ba'asyir to the Cilacap District Court in Central Java for a hearing on his case review in February. (thejakartapost.com/Agus Maryono)
T
errorist convict Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was moved to an isolation cell on Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap regency, Central Java, in February and can only receive a few select visitors. He is also banned from conducting his regular activities.
Prison authorities locked the firebrand Muslim cleric in an isolation cell measuring 3 by 4 meters in the Pasir Putih maximum security prison on Nusakambangan, Ba'asyir's personal assistant Hasim Abdullah said on Wednesday.
"Nobody can visit him anymore on Nusakambangan," Hasim told thejakartapost.com, but added that his family, lawyers and medical team were still allowed to visit him in prison.
His confinement to an isolation cell began in February after he attended a hearing on his case review at the Cilacap District Court.
The Muslim Lawyers Team (TPM) slammed the Law and Human Rights Ministry for confining him in an isolation cell and questioned the legal base of his relocation.
"We will advise the President. This is a vile act. As an inmate [Ba'asyir] has always displayed good behavior. And no ruling was made but suddenly he is put in isolation," said TPM member Ahmad Michdan.
Moreover, Ba'asyir's activities outside of the cell are limited, Michdan said, adding that it would make the deteriorating health of the 76-year-old worse.
Ba'asyir, the spiritual leader of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) radical organization, was imprisoned after the South Jakarta District Court found him guilty of funding a terrorist training camp in Aceh and sentenced him to 15 years in 2011.
He is awaiting the ruling by the Supreme Court on his case review after the Cilacap District Court forwarded the case to it in February.
Meanwhile, Nusakambangan warden Molyanto confirmed that Ba'asyir had been placed in isolation. The order came directly from Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan for security reasons.
"We only obeyed the instructions of the coordinating minister. We don't know until when as it also depends on instructions," Molyanto told thejakartapost.com.
Security for Ba'asyir and other terrorist convicts was tightened after a terrorist attack in Jakarta in January.
Luhut previously said the government had moved Ba'asyir to a special cell in Pasir Putih prison on Nusakambangan for Ba'asyir's own safety and comfort. Putting him in isolation is also aimed at limiting his communication with the outside world.
"We want to make him feel more comfortable considering his age. He is not being isolated; we are treating him humanely" Luhut said on April 5. (rin)
