Indonesian Police Send Cleric for Trial
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Police said today that they had turned Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir over to prosecutors with a recommendation that he should be tried for treason.
Authorities say Bashir is the leader of the Southeast Asian militant Muslim network Jemaah Islamiah, which has been blamed for explosions on Bali that killed more than 200 people.
Bashir was arrested in October on suspicion of involvement in a different set of bombings -- those of Indonesian churches around Christmas 2000 -- and in a plot to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
A police spokesman said the charges against Bashir covered “treason against the state, immigration violation and documents falsifications and others.â€
He said earlier this week that police were still investigating Bashir’s possible role in the Bali blasts. Bashir has denied any wrongdoing related to the Bali bombings or any other incidents.
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