Prosecutors in Jakarta demanded a life sentence for terrorism defendant and radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for allegedly financing a rebel training camp.
He was arrested in August on suspicion of financing a militant Islamic training camp in Aceh, the isolated province of 4.5 million people on the northern tip of Sumatra Island.
Bashir could face a death sentence after Indonesian police formally charged him last month with inciting terrorism. He previously served more than two years in jail before being cleared of involvement with the proscribed Jemaah Islamiah group, a militant group with links to al-Qaida.
Prosecutor Andi Taufik said Bashir was guilty of planning and persuading people to raise funds to support terrorism. He also hindered the government's war against terrorism plan, given inconsistent testimonies in previous court hearings and has showed no regret for his actions.
Bashir, 72, always has denied in previous Jakarta court appearances all allegations against him, including raising and giving thousands of dollars to other terrorist suspects.
Bashir's lawyer, Achmad Michdan, said his team would challenge the sentence demand when the trial resumes May 25 for the defendant's defense statement.
Before the court hearings started, Bashir told reporters that the heavy security measures at the South Jakarta District Court are leading the public to believe he has the same status as Osama bin Laden, the terrorist suspect killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan last week.
"There is no need for thousands of police officers to guard me," Bashir said. "The use of such heavy security measures makes me look like the Osama of Indonesia. This is all being done to make me look like a terrorist."
Bashir always has said foreigners are behind his many arrests and that the United States has "engineered" his detention.
Bashir is accused of raising $112,000 to buy guns and ammunition and set up a terrorist training camp. He also is accused of giving several suspected terrorists several thousand dollars each, some of which was later handed over to a man called Dulmatin, whom police killed in March 2010.
Dulmatin was one of Indonesia's most wanted men, a militant involved in the fatal 2002 Bali bomb attacks. The United States had placed a $10 million reward for his capture.
Dulmatin, 40, was suspected of being a lead planner for the nightclub bombings that killed 202 people in the tourist district of Kuta on the southern Indonesian island of Bali. He allegedly belonged to Jemaah Islamiah.
The Bali bombing in October 2002 was the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia. More than three dozen Indonesians died. More than 150 of the 202 dead were foreigners, including 88 Australians. Around 240 people were injured.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
