The radical Indonesian cleric thought to have masterminded last year’s Bali bombing is to be tried for attempting to overthrow the government and establish an Islamic state, prosecutors said yesterday.
Abu Bakar Ba’aysir (64) is also accused of being the emir (leader) of Jemaah Islamiyah, al-Qaida’s main network in south-east Asia, according to the 25-page charge sheet lodged with the court in Jakarta.
The treason charges relate to terrorist attacks in Indonesia between 1993 and 2001, including a spate of church bombings on Christmas Eve 2000 which killed 19 people.
Ba’aysir, who runs an orthodox Islamic school in Java, attended meetings in Malaysia and Singapore in 2001 at which he allegedly approved an attempt, subsequently foiled, to bomb US interests in Singapore.
”The defendant is the leader and organiser of treason with the intention of toppling the government and fulfilling his intention of setting up the Islamic state of Indonesia,” the indictment reads.
Others charged include Jemaah Islamiyah’s alleged operations chief, Hambali, and two men awaiting trial for the Bali bombing last October, which killed 202 people.
Court officials said the trial could start ”within weeks”. If convicted, Ba’aysir may be jailed for up to 20 years. Ba’aysir, who denies Jemaah Islamiyah’s existence, has not been formally linked to the Bali bombing. He remains in detention.
He also faces immigration charges alleging that he lied about his whereabouts between 1985 and 1999.
If they are proved he could be left stateless. – Guardian Unlimited Â