Baysir looked confident, hours before the verdict was set to be out

JAKARTA, September 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Judges Tuesday, September 2, were reading their verdict on Abu Bakar Baysir – alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) - after a controversial trial in the world’s most populous Musil country, Indonesia.

Baysir could face life in prison if convicted of trying to topple the secular government of the Southeast Asia nation and to set up an Islamic state.

Prosecutors, who have asked for a 15-year jail term, claim the 65-year-old Muslim scholar heads the (allegedly) al-Qaeda-linked JI, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Muslim scholar – who enjoys widespread respect and sympathy among Indonesians - denies that JI even exists and has warned judges they will face God's wrath if they find him guilty.

The Southeast Asian network is blamed for a string of bloody attacks including Indonesian church bombings which killed 19 people on Christmas Eve 2000, the Bali blasts last October 12 which killed 202 people and last month's Jakarta hotel blast that claimed 12 lives.

JI, which is also linked to a bombing in the Philippines and bomb plots in Singapore and Thailand, is said to be “dreaming of creating a regional Islamic state”.

Judges were reading a 222-page summary of the evidence before pronouncing Baysir guilty or innocent, probably late in the afternoon.

Deafening shouts of "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest) rang out from supporters as Baysir, dressed in a black robe and white Muslim skullcap, took his seat in court.

The scholar told his supporters to be calm.

"Let us show the character of Islam," he told them. "Believe me, whatever punishment is given (me), we are still winning as long as we are defending the laws of Allah.

"If anyone creates chaos, it is...an American provocateur and not MMI (the Indonesian Mujahideen Council, which Baysir heads)."

About 400 of Baysir's followers, many wearing military fatigues and keffiyeh-style headdresses, had gathered outside in a noisy show of support. Some were allowed into the courtroom.

More than 1,500 police were deployed in and around the court. Two water cannon and scores of paramilitary police, some of them armed, guarded the approaches.

Most supporters were from MMI, which campaigns for Islamic Sharia law in Indonesia, and had traveled from Baysir's home region around the Central Java city of Solo.

They held a banner reading: "Mujahideen are against terrorism, wish to die as martyrs."

"Release ustaz (teacher) Abu!" the crowd yelled.

Security outside the courtroom was tight

"Judges, you should follow your conscience - remember you are Muslims," one protester shouted through a loudspeaker.

Australia's foreign ministry warned its nationals to exercise "extreme caution" and to stay away from the court area when the verdict is delivered. It said the trials of “extremists” could prompt demonstrations or violent reactions.

Baysir is not accused over the Bali blasts but is charged with approving the Christmas Eve attacks, a foiled bombing campaign in Singapore, and an aborted plot to kill Megawati Sukarnoputri before she became president.

He says he was framed by the United States and other "infidel enemies" of Islam because he was struggling to introduce Sharia.

"Whatever the sentence, if our client is considered guilty we will appeal," one of his lawyers, Mahendradatta, told reporters.

The prosecution case rests largely on the evidence from so-called “JI” suspects detained in Malaysia and Singapore. They testified by TV link that Baysir heads the network and would have authorized bomb plots.

Singapore publicly identified Baysir as JI's leader in February 2002 but Indonesia was slow to move against him.

In May last year, Vice President Hamzah Haz visited the scholar’s Islamic boarding school at Ngruki in Central Java. Haz declared afterwards that international terrorism does not exist in Indonesia.

One week after the Bali attack, Baysir was arrested in his hospital bed and has been in custody ever since. His trial began on April 23.