Abu Bakar Bashir
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Abu Bakar Bashir (also Abubakar Ba'asyir) alias Abdus Somad (born August 1938) is an Indonesian Muslim cleric who is the alleged spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a militant Islamic separatist group. Intelligence agencies have pointed to his supposed links with al-Qaeda. Bashir denies he has anything to do with Jemaah Islamiyah or terrorism. Ba'asyir is also the leader of Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (MMI). He is in poor health.
Bashir was arrested for suspected involvement in the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing. On April 14, 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 series of bombings against Christian churches on Christmas Eve, 2000, which killed 18 people.
In the Indonesian court, he was found not guilty for treason due to a lack of evidence, but was found guilty on immigration charges. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but the sentence was subsequently reduced to 20 months. If more evidence is found on his involvement, he may be tried again for treason.
On October 15, 2004, he was arrested by the Indonesian authorities and charged with involvement in a bomb attack on the Marriott hotel in Jakarta on August 5, 2003, which killed 14 people. Secondary charges in the same indictment accuse him of involvement in the Bali bombing, the first time he has faced charges in relation to that attack.
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 bomb. He was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment.
External links
- BBC News profile of Bashir (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2339693.stm)
- ABC News Online report on Bashir (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200410/s1221348.htm)id:Abu Bakar Ba'asyir