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.
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