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Indonesian prosecutors on Monday dropped the most serious terror charges against radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for lack of evidence, leaving him facing a possible life sentence instead of death.
Prosecutors at his trial in Jakarta said the charge of providing firearms and explosives for terrorist acts, for which the 72-year-old preacher could have faced the death penalty, 'could not be proven convincingly'.
The charge of inciting acts of terrorism was also dropped, leaving only the accusation of providing funding of more than US$62,000 (S$76,400) to a terrorist group, for which the prosecutors sought a maximum life sentence.
Hundreds of Bashir's radical followers erupted into chants of 'Allahu akbar' (God is greatest) in support for the man who is widely regarded as a spiritual leader of South-east Asian jihadists. Bashir told AFP as he was led away that he rejected the charges and condemned the prosecutors as 'friends of the devil'.
'Friends of the devil are always like that, always at war with people who try to defend Islam,' he said. 'Such insolence. These people should be called terrorists, may Allah immediately send them a disaster.' He said the charges were bogus. 'I should have been freed,' he added.
About 2,500 police backed by armoured vehicles surrounded the Jakarta courtroom as the cleric appeared in his usual white robes to face the sentencing recommendations. 'It is normal that they will seek the death penalty.... I've been turned into an icon as if I'm Osama the terrorist,' he said, referring to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, killed by US special forces in Pakistan last week.
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