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A supporter wears a T-shirt bearing portrait of Bashir during a protest demanding him to be released
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By
Kazi Mahmood, IOL South East Correspondent
Kuala
Lumpur, November 7 (IslamOnline) - Police in Jakarta said on Wednesday,
November 6, they had sufficient proof to book Muslim cleric Abu Bakar
Bayshir for his alleged involvement in a series of bombing of Churches
in Indonesia and keep him under arrest until his interrogation goes
underway.
National
Police lawyer Sr. Comr. Soeyitno said that the arrest and detention of
Bayshir, who chairs the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, was not solely
based on a confession by Omar al-Faruq but was supported by evidence,
reports the Jakarta Post.
Bayshir
has launched a judicial challenge against the Police for
"illegally" arresting him, without any proof and basis of his
alleged involvement in a series of bombing of Churches in Indonesia in
2000.
The
aging Mujahideen leader who is now under police custody in a hospital in
Jakarta is forcing the police to bring forward all the "proof"
they have against him before he start refuting them.
He
has imposed several conditions on his questioning by Police that
officials in Jakarta says Bayshir is trying to protect himself from
investigation that could expose any of his wrong doings.
The
Indonesian government is hoping to strike it big with the investigation
of Bayshir, who is number one terror suspect on a list established by
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Bayshir
filed the lawsuit against the police for forcibly moving him from his
hospital bed in Muhammadiyah Hospital in Solo, Central Java to the
police hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, without prior notice.
Observers
told IslamOnline that it is highly probable Bayshir will be interrogated
before the end of this week, despite the ongoing lawsuit. They add that
the police is trying to be wise after the event by finding ways and
means to keep Bayshir locked-up in his hospital room.
"The
police is now trying to find all possible means to keep Bayshir behind
bars, despite the fact that they arrested him without any clear basis
and sufficient proof of his involvement in these bombings," Amir
Supradi, the leader of a student movement in Jakarta said.
However
Soeyitno said additional evidence against Bayshir was related to
information given by the Indonesian Immigration Director General, Slamet
Santoso, as well as two Indonesian citizens living in Malaysia,
identified as Faiz bin Abubakar and Ferial Muchlis.
The
police also said they had confessions from arrested Jemaah Islamiyah
(JI) leaders in Malaysia and Singapore, who supposedly revealed that
Bayshir was the effective leader of the JI and had links with Osama Bin
Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Bayshir's
group of lawyers is now trying to force the police to reveal to the
judge and the lawyers the reasons Bayshir is in detention.
Initially,
Bayshir was summoned at the Jakarta police headquarters after an
investigation team from the police went to Washington to interview an
alleged al-Qaeda suspect arrested in Indonesia and deported to the U.S.
in June this year.
Umar
Al-Faruq, a Kuwati citizen who took Indonesian citizenship was arrested
after the CIA directed the Indonesian police that he was an al-Qaeda
operative in South East Asia.
His
deportation from Indonesia raised a storm of anger in the country, with
several legislators questioning the motive of the Indonesian government
and its cooperation with the demoted CIA.
Bayshir's
lawyer, Adnan Buyung Nasution, told the police that al-Faruq's statement
has been submitted to the court. "We want evidence, such as a
recording of the statement made by al-Faruq to be submitted to the
court.
"We
want to know whether the statements are genuine or not," Nasution
said during a press conference and reported by Jakarta Post.
Nasution
also said the government should not simply base its information of what
the intelligentsia suggested adding that
Nasution
said he doubted the existence of the statement -- even the existence of
al-Faruq himself and the existence of "strong evidence" as
suggested by police against Bayshir.
"If
Bayshir is detained thanks to information obtained from the
Intelligentsia, then this is against the law," said Buyung to Tempo
newspaper.
"Bayshir
is now detained on information and informants who are not here in
Indonesia," the lawyer added.
"The
police has to bring forward the proof they say they have, they cannot
just arrest people on hearsay evidence in Indonesia," Supradi said.
He
added that student’s movements are watching closely the actions of the
government in terms of violation of human rights, democracy and freedom
of expression.
Supporters
of Bayshir has also made official protests to the National Commission on
Human Rights (Komnas Ham). On Wednesday, a group of supporters of the
arrested leader said they wanted fairness and transparency in the case
involving Bayshir.
Most of them are members of students movement and other non-governmental
organizations that had a strong hand in the "reform" movement
during the early 1990's.
They
said other cities in Indonesia were planning to visit the Komnas Ham to
protest against the detention of Bayshir and that could eventually
become a national movement of protest.
