Posted on 05/16/2002 7:40:39 AM PDT by Wallaby
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Indonesian court dismisses libel suit against Singapore over terrorist claims
LELY T. DJUHARI; Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
May 16, 2002 Thursday 3:52 AM Eastern Time
JAKARTA, Indonesia
A judge on Thursday accused Singapore's government of "arrogance and cockiness," but ruled that it could not be sued by an Indonesian Muslim cleric who claimed it slandered him by dubbing him an international terrorist.
After the case was dismissed, Abu Bakar Bashir - who Singapore accused of having links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network - threatened violence.
"The world is being run by infidels," the aging cleric said. "If the infidels want to play, we will fight until our last drop of blood."
The South Jakarta District Court dismissed the suit filed by Bashir over a statement released by Singapore's Foreign Ministry in February that alleged he led a regional extremist group with ties to al-Qaida.
Bashir heads a hardline Islamic group in Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim country. He has said he admires Osama bin Laden but denies having ties with him.
He was demanding Singapore pay 1 trillion rupiah (dlrs 100 million) in damages.
The court had summoned Singapore's ambassador to Indonesia to represent his government in the case. He never answered the summons and Judge Zoeber Djajadi said the case could not be heard because the defendant had diplomatic immunity.
"Although the arrogance and cockiness of the Singaporean government has hurt the dignity of Indonesians and Abu Bakar Bashir as an individual, the defendant is a diplomat and cannot be charged in either a criminal or civil case," he said.
Thursday's hearing was the third time that the ambassador had been called to appear. Singapore has made it clear it was under no obligation to respond.
To the cheers of around 500 of his supporters, many of whom were dressed in green paramilitary uniforms, Bashir told the judge he would appeal.
Bashir's group, the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, campaigns for the imposition of Islamic law in Indonesia. Indonesian police questioned him over his activities in January, but said they lacked evidence to detain him.
Indonesia has been accused of failing to arrest suspected Islamic militants operating in the country.
Neighboring Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines have detained dozens of suspected militants, several of them Indonesians.
After the case was dismissed, around 100 of Bashir's supporters protested against the decision outside the Singaporean Embassy.
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