Militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was yesterday charged under tough anti-terror laws for a deadly attack on a Jakarta hotel, but despite mounting international pressure Indonesian prosecutors say he will not be tried over the Bali bombings.
Bashir was also charged with heading the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, blamed for both the August last year Jakarta Marriott hotel blast which left 12 dead and the October 2002 Bali bomb strikes in which 202 were killed.
"He has been charged with terrorism," prosecutor Haryono told reporters, shortly after the elderly preacher was transferred from police detention to a state prison in Jakarta. He faces the death penalty.
The move to charge Bashir, 65, follows weeks of fraught legal wrangling which have seen police and prosecutors rush to build a case after a ruling by Indonesia's top court robbed them of the right to convict Bashir over Bali.
Last month the Constitutional Court said anti-terror legislation rushed into law in the wake of the Bali blasts could not be applied retrospectively to cover that attack -- although it can be used to try suspects in the Marriott strike.
The court said existing Bali-related convictions will stand, but a judge's decision on Tuesday which dismissed charges against a key suspect in the resort island attacks has fuelled fears that many key bombers will escape justice.
Jhoni Hendrawan, alias Idris, was jailed for 10 years for his role in the Marriott blast, but judges said despite his admission he took part in the Bali strike, he would not be tried for that attack.
An appeal court last year cleared Bashir of terror links but upheld a lesser jail sentence for immigration-related offences. He was released in April, but immediately rearrested, prompting violent protests from his supporters.
Although Indonesian prosecutors can no longer charge Bashir directly for the Bali attack, they insist they have now built a watertight case against the cleric and say he will face heavy punishment over the Marriott attack and his Jemaah Islamiyah involvement.
"We have a strong case, otherwise we would not have approved the police dossier," attorney general's office spokesman Kiemas Yahya Rachman told reporters.
The indictment against Bashir accuses him of forging Jemaah Islamiyah out of a militant Islamic group created in 1993. He is also accused of attending a terrorist graduation ceremony at a camp in the Philippines which trained the Marriott and Bali bombers.
A calm-looking Bashir, dressed in a traditional Muslim cap and clothes, was paraded briefly in front of journalists after he was charged yesterday, before being whisked under heavy security to a Jakarta jail, where he can be held for a maximum of 60 days.
"I do not accept the arrest," he said, denouncing the move as part of a US-masterminded plot against Islam.
Lawyers representing Bashir also condemned the charges. They said the cleric could not have been involved in the Marriott attack as he was behind bars at the time and accused authorities of using him as a scapegoat.
"Is our detention system so chaotic that someone who was being detained and was on trial could stage a terror attack? This is a fabricated trial. It has something to do with international politics," said lawyer Luthfi Hakim.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS