Prison needs to suppress Ba’asyir: Expert

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 05/11/2011 9:55 PM | National

Special rules should apply to firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who has been sentenced to life in prison, terrorism expert Noor Huda Ismail said Wednesday.

"The government should impose a system that forbids him [Ba'asyir] any opportunity to encourage radicalism," he said.

According to Noor, Ba'asyir should get heightened treatment concerning visitors. "Not all individuals should be permitted to visit him. Only his closest [friends]," he said.

He said that a prison could be an ideal place for a terrorist prisoner to recruit new members. In the case of Ba'asyir, he said that the chance of him fomenting radicalism was still very strong.

Therefore, he urged the government to imprison its terrorist prisoners in different buildings. "They would have no chance at all to meet each other," he added. (fem)

Ba'asyir says porn-watching PKS legislator un-Muslim

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 04/11/2011 11:29 AM | National

Terrorism defendant Abu Bakar Ba'asyir on Monday commented on a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) legislator, Arifinto, who was caught on camera last Friday viewing pornographic material on his tablet.

Arifinto was photographed by a journalist during a House of Representatives plenary session.

Ba'asyir said it was un-Muslim to view such imagery.

“How come [he] says he's Muslim [but] watches sex videos,” Ba'asyir said at South Jakarta District Court where his trial session was being held.

Ba'asyir is charged with alleged terrorism after he allegedly organized a military-style training camp in Aceh.

Ba’asyir added that Arifinto deserved to be dismissed from the party for his misdeed.

“This clearly violates God's rules,” he said, as reported by tribunnews.com.

Court delayed issuing Ba’asyir summons: Prosecutors

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 02/10/2011 2:21 PM | National

South Jakarta Prosecutors Office says the district court was responsible for the late summons issued for a hearing on Thursday to noted terrorism defendant Abubakar Baasyir, which had led to the postponement of the hearing.

At the first hearing of his terrorism trial on Thursday, Baasyir immediately said he had received the official court summons too late, and the panel of judges at South Jakarta District Court subsequently postponed the hearing until Monday.

“We gave the order and informed Ba’asyir [regarding the hearing],” prosecutors' office chief M. Yusuf, said Thursday in Jakarta, adding that his office had only received the summons letter on Monday.

“The summons should have been issued on February 4, given that February 5-6 was a weekend,” he said, as quoted by Antara.

Baasyir dossiers replete with multiple charges: Court

Mariel Grazella, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/02/2011 2:36 PM | National

South Jakarta District Court chief Yusuf says that the case files received by the court from the National Police on suspected terrorist Abu Bakar Baasyir contain a host of alleged crimes.

"There are seven levels of charges," Yusuf said on Wednesday, including provoking a movement and funding terrorism, which carry sentences ranging from three years’ to life imprisonment.

The firebrand Muslim cleric was arrested in August in Ciamis, West Java, by officers from Detachment 88, the National Police's counterterrorism unit.

The police have alleged that Baasyir, the leader of the Ngruki Islamic boarding school in Surakarta, Central Java, actively prepared a training camp to support the Al Qaeda in Southeast Asia terrorist group.

Eye surgery for Ba’asyir on Monday

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 12/20/2010 10:13 AM | National

Terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba’asyir is scheduled for cataract surgery on Monday at Aini Eye Hospital on Jl. H. R. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta.

It was unclear if the firebrand cleric’s left knee would also be treated despite a report that said it would be examined, Ba’asyir’s attorney Luthfie Hakim said as reported by tempointeraktif.com news portal.

Ba’asyir, who has been in police custody since August, allegedly endorsed fund-raising activities for a terrorist training camp in Aceh.