Arrest and Trial
In June 2002, the USA government asked Indonesia to turn over Omar Al-Faruq. Megawati's administration captured Al-Faruq and transferred him to American custody, and he was subsequently held in Bagram prison in Afghanistan.
Similarly, US State Department translator, Fred Burks revealed during Bashir's trial in Indonesia that the USA government had asked President Megawati secretly to hand-over Bashir in a meeting at Megawati's home in September 2002. Present at that meeting was US ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce, National Security Council official Karen Brooks, and an unnamed CIA official.
Megawati refused to transfer Bashir saying, "I can't render somebody like him. People will find out".
On 14 April 2003, he was formally charged by the Indonesian government with treason, immigration violations, and providing false documents and statements to the Indonesian police. The charges are mainly related to the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings against Christian churches, which killed 18 people. In the Indonesian court, he was found not guilty of treason because the state failed to prove its case, but was found guilty on the immigration violations. In a local TV news interview, Metro TV, when asked, 'Are you truly a terrorist?'; He simply answered, 'No, I've never killed anyone.' He was sentenced to three years in prison, but the sentence was subsequently reduced to 20 months due to his good behavior in the prison.
On 15 October 2004, he was arrested by the Indonesian authorities and charged with involvement in the bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on 5 August 2003, which killed 14 people. Secondary charges in the same indictment charge him of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombing, the first time he has faced charges in relation to that attack which killed 202 people. On March 3, 2005, Bashir was found guilty of conspiracy over the 2002 attacks, but was found not guilty of the charges surrounding the 2003 bombing. He was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment.
Read more about this topic: Abu Bakar Bashir
Famous quotes containing the words arrest and/or trial:
“One does not arrest Voltaire.”
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