It is likely the only common ground they will ever have, but terrorism analysts and supporters of militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir do agree on one thing — the 15-year jail term that he received on Thursday means he will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The conclusion to the four-month trial, the Indonesian government’s third attempt to convict the 72-year-old for terrorism, had always been expected to be divisive.
After the South Jakarta District Court, presided by Judge Herri Swantoro, ruled that Bashir was guilty of inciting people to carry out terrorist activities in relation to last year’s discovery of a paramilitary camp in Aceh, an uproar emerged among his supporters.
Thunderous shouts of “Allahu Akbar” or “God is great” from some 500 of his supporters, mostly members of the radical Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid group Bashir co-founded, resounded around the court.
Bashir’s legal team quickly dismissed the court as a sham. “The judge was too keen to convict Bashir,” said his lawyer, Luthfie Hakim.
Categories: Human Rights, Indonesia, Law
If Pakistani judges and judiciary in general can demonstrate similar wisdom and rationality, may be law and order can be restored in the land and not only minorities but even governors, who do not agree with the Mullahs can find their life safe.
Mr Shah is right in his comment but I would go bit further and say that it is more important to put a lid on the cleric’s teachings. Muslim youths are falling increasingly under the sway of Bashir’s radical ideology and are likely to retaliate. To me eradication of any menace needs indpepth probe. One must find the root cause of evil. Elimination or life imprisonment of one redical can be subsituted with other redical. Strict check on redical ideology and its abolishment along with spread of true interpretation of real Islamic teachings can ensure better results. But rightly pointed out by Mr Shah, Pakistan even did not dare to put any redical behind the bar how a strict check can be placed on redical idealogy. Spread of real teachings of Islam in Pakistan currently an impossible theory.