Thread: Freed Bashir mobbed by supporters

Abu Bakar Bashir, the firebrand Islamic cleric accused of inspiring the first Bali bombings, has walked free from Jakarta's main prison and into the arms of hundreds of jubilant militant supporters.
Lifting his hands in the air an otherwise subdued Bashir muttered "I thank Allah" as he was mobbed by adoring fans, many in black "mujahidin" jackets.
Wearing a white skull cap, grey suit and red checked headscarf, the bespectacled 68-year-old made no mention of the 2002 Bali bombings, in which 88 Australians were killed, or a subsequent string of deadly terrorist attacks in Indonesia.

Instead he vowed to continue his struggle to bring strict Islamic sharia law to mainly-Muslim Indonesia.

"To the lawyers who have enthusiastically defended me during the trial we will keep on fighting to uphold sharia," he said in a brief speech targeting moderate opponents.
"Upholding sharia is full of struggle," he added, before being whisked away with his son Rachim in a black van to begin a road trip to Solo, an ancient royal city in central Java where he teaches his radical brand of Islam at the Ngruki boarding school, dubbed the "Ivy League" of militant academies.
During his road trip he planned to visit earthquake survivors around nearby Yogyakarta.
Security was tight outside the prison with scores of police keeping watch.
Scores of supporters were bused in to cheer Bashir. But three were killed in a car accident on their way from Solo.
Many in the crowd wore headbands and carried copies of Bashir's new book, I Was Falsely Accused, The Days of Abu Bakar Bashir in Prison.
On its pages, the cleric denounces Prime Minister John Howard as "an infidel" and "enemy of Allah".
He also accuses Foreign Minister Alexander Downer of pressuring Indonesia to keep him in prison following an earlier 18-month jail sentence for minor immigration offences.
The Malaysian-born Bashir denied allegations by western nations that he is the "emir", or spiritual head, of the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network.
He has called on all Indonesian Muslims to defend the nation "against violence".
"We must believe that this country will be safe from all darkness under Islamic sharia," he said.
Bashir was released 15 minutes ahead of schedule and his chaotic departure from Jakarta's Cipinang Prison took his legal team by surprise.
One of Bashir's lawyers, Adnan Wirawan, said plans for the journey to Solo had been thrown into disarray by a small band of supporters who bundled him into a van.
"This is not the plan and right now we don't know where he is," Adnan told AAP.
"All the plans that we have set up for him, it has been deviated. We have to find him so we can take him to Solo."
Australia's government has called on Indonesia to place Bashir under close surveillance amid warnings by some terrorist analysts that his release could inspire more terror attacks.
The United States said it was deeply disappointed with Bashir's release from what Washington believed had been a light 25-month sentence for giving blessings to the first Bali attacks.
Asked about possible police surveillance of his father, Rachim said he was unafraid.
"I don't care about it. If they want to watch, go ahead," he said.
Lawyer Adnan said any move to place Bashir under surveillance would be a violation of his rights.
"I expect that there will be a discrimination surveillance of him and that would be unconstitutional, because he is as free as everyone else in the country," he said.
Accusations Bashir had been the leader of JI would be proven wrong, Adnan said.
"That is a paranoid version of the western media. He has never been a man of violence," he said.
"What is to be afraid of? He has never been proven to kill a fly, an animal, he has never been proven to kill anyone."
The massive show of support for Bashir outside the prison proved he was innocent, Adnan said.
"People will not worship someone who is evil, who is a criminal, and if a lot of people still worship him it proves that he is an innocent man," he said.
Before Bashir's release, Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency chief, Syamsir Siregar, said he hoped Bashir would not cause any trouble.
"We hope Bashir, after he has been jailed, will regain his self-awareness and be willing to cooperate with us," Siregar told politicians earlier this week.
Jemaah Islamiah is accused of carrying out church bombings across Indonesia in 2000, the Bali bombings in 2002, attacks in the Indonesian capital in 2003 and 2004, and a triple suicide bombing on Bali last October. The attacks together killed more than 260 people.
Bashir has little active support in Indonesia, where most Muslims follow a moderate form of the faith.
On his road trip Bashir criticised the United States.
"The United States is a state terrorist because it is waging war against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan," he told reporters when asked about US accusations he was a terror leader.
Bashir made the remark after he stopped for midday prayers in the town of Tegal, 300km east of Jakarta.

©AAP 2006