Security tightened prior to Ba`asyir`s sentencing

Threats of multiple bombing attacks and those against the judges handling the case of Abu Bakar Ba`asyir have prompted police to tighten security prior to the passing of the court`s verdict on the Muslim cleric accused of terrorism. 

Police would provide security for the judges who had received short text messages (SMS) containing threats from unidentified persons, Jakarta Metropolitan Police chief Inspector General Sutarman said here on Wednesday (June 14).

The Jakarta Metropolitan Police are also intensively investigating the origin of a cellular text message (SMS) containing the threat of multiple bombing attacks on Thursday (June 16), the day Ba`asyir is to be sentenced in court. 

"We are now trying to trace the sender of the SMS with the help of members of our cyber crime unit," Sr Com Baharudin Djafar, head of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police`s public relations bureau, said here Tuesday (June 14).

The police were not as yet able to confirm the truth of the messages but they would remain alert and take anticipatory measures while continuing efforts to trace the sender. 

Police were also making an analysis of the SMS`s impact on the public, to what extent it was causing anxiety among Jakarta residents.

An intensive effort was now being made to find and identify the message`s sender and call the person concerned to account, Baharudin said.

The SMS was sent from a cell phone bearing the number 082123552496. It read : "Assalamu`alaikum. Behold, you, lions among Indonesia`s believers in the oneness of God, prepare yourself mentally, physically and morally for the global jihad that will be implemented at the South Jakarta District Court on June 16, 2011. We have planted 36 explosive devices all over Indonesia that will go off simultaneously the moment Ustadz Abu Bakar Ba`asyir is sentenced. Spread this good news".

According to informed sources, the National Police Headquarters already knows the whereabouts of the SMS`s sender.

Ba`asyir, the chief of the Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, is accused of having financed a terrorist training program in Aceh. He had allegedly sent a large sum of money to terror kingpin Dulmatin through an intermediary for the purchase of arms and ammunition.

The prosecution had at a recent court session demanded a life sentence for Ba`asyir on the ground he had been legally and convincingly proven to have committed terrorist acts.

It cited as an aggravating factor that the defendant had not supported the government`s program to eradicate terrorism and that his acts had disturbed public security and national stability.

Clerics should always conduct themselves in exemplary ways but defendant had not done so. Besides, Ba`asyir had shown no remorse for his wrongdoings, the prosecution said.

The only thing the prosecution considered an alleviating circumstance in Ba`asyir`s case was his advanced age. 

In more specific terms, Baa`syir was accused of having provided financial assistance for the implementation of a military training program for terrorists in Aceh.

He had sent Rp180 million and US$5,000 to terror kingpin Dulmatin through a man named Ubaid, Public Prosecutor Andi M Taufik said.

The money was later used to buy Rp325 million worth of fire arms and ammunition, and there had also been a meeting between Ba`asyir and Dulmatin to discuss the military training in Aceh, the prosecution said in its 93-page charge sheet.

The 72-year old cleric has denied all links to any extremist activity. He maintains he is a spiritual, religious leader and that he has been unfairly accused.

"I understand in principle that I am being accused of being the leader of a militant group in Aceh. Such allegations have been engineered and are just empty talk," he told judges after prosecutors read out the indictment against him.

Ba`asyir was arrested in West Java by anti-terror police last August, six months after the discovery by police of a militant camp in Aceh.

It is the third time Ba`asyir has faced terrorism-related charges. He was convicted of conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombings, but the sentence was later overturned on appeal. 

On Thursday (June 16), the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Command is expected to deploy 3,446 personnel including six snipers from the National Defense Forces (TNI) to secure the session, court personnel as well as the defendant.

As part of the security measures, the South Jakarta District Court will provide special identification cards for journalists who will cover Thursday`s South Jakarta District Court session.

The court had issued 200 cards prior to the session, and journalists could obtain the special ID cards by submitting their press cards, Sair, head of the general affairs sub unit of the South Jakarta District Court said here Wednesday.

The special arrangement has been coordinated by the district court and police, he added.

He said the selection of the press men going to cover the trial is necessary because there were doubts about the credentials of some of them.

"In the previous trial of Ba`asyir, there was a press man who was directing his camera only at the judges all the time," he said.

If the situation is not conducive during the court`s session, Jakarta Police plans to alter traffic patterns around the South Jakarta District Court. 

"The traffic pattern change is situational in nature. It will be applied only when the situation is not conducive," Senior Commissioner Sujarno, head of the Jakarta Police`s operational bureau, said here Wednesday.

Police will also carry out checks on supporters of Ba`asyir to confiscate any weapons they might carry during the court session to hear the jury`s verdict on Ba`asyir.

The sweeps against Ba`asyir supporters will be conducted in coordination with f the police offices in Jakarta, West Java, Lampung (Sumatra), Banten and Central Java.

Metal detectors will also be installed at the South Jakarta District Court to check the belongings of visitors.

The security tightening is considered necessary in anticipation of possible riots by the cleric`s followers or sympathizers. (*)

Source: ANTARA