https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/sout...eric-abu-bakar-bashir-backs-bali-bombers-vows
A radical Indonesian Muslim cleric, thought to be behind the 2002 terrorist bombings that killed 202 people on the resort island of Bali, said in a recent interview that he still believes Indonesia should implement Islamic law, vowing to work to make it happen.
Abu Bakar Bashir, 84, who was freed last year after serving time in a separate case for funding a militant training camp, spoke with Kyodo News last month near Solo on the main island of Java ahead of the bombings’ 20th anniversary on Wednesday.
Bashir is the alleged spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, a militant group to which the perpetrators of the Bali attack belonged. The group is also linked to the international terrorism network al-Qaeda.
The attack on Bali nightclubs crowded with foreign tourists killed 88 Australians, the most among foreign nations. Two Japanese also died. Indonesia experienced a slew of terror attacks in subsequent years, including the bombing of an upscale hotel in Jakarta in 2003 that killed 12 people….
In the interview, Bashir said the attack was wrong but that he believes three men executed in 2008 for their involvement in the bombings had “good intentions and purposes” because they were trying to “get rid of sinful deeds” such as music and alcohol that go against Islamic law.
During his trial over the bombings, Bashir was found to have given his blessing when the plan was insinuated before the attack. The Supreme Court overturned the determination, finding no orders given by the cleric or conspiracy involving him….
“What we have to do now is work hard to make Indonesia implement Islamic law because Indonesia is actually supposed to be an Islamic state. But successive governments have not been willing to implement it,” the cleric said….
Wearing a white robe, the white-bearded Bashir still routinely leads an Islamic prayer five times a day at a big mosque at the centre of his Al-Mukmin Islamic school….
A radical Indonesian Muslim cleric, thought to be behind the 2002 terrorist bombings that killed 202 people on the resort island of Bali, said in a recent interview that he still believes Indonesia should implement Islamic law, vowing to work to make it happen.
Abu Bakar Bashir, 84, who was freed last year after serving time in a separate case for funding a militant training camp, spoke with Kyodo News last month near Solo on the main island of Java ahead of the bombings’ 20th anniversary on Wednesday.
Bashir is the alleged spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, a militant group to which the perpetrators of the Bali attack belonged. The group is also linked to the international terrorism network al-Qaeda.
The attack on Bali nightclubs crowded with foreign tourists killed 88 Australians, the most among foreign nations. Two Japanese also died. Indonesia experienced a slew of terror attacks in subsequent years, including the bombing of an upscale hotel in Jakarta in 2003 that killed 12 people….
In the interview, Bashir said the attack was wrong but that he believes three men executed in 2008 for their involvement in the bombings had “good intentions and purposes” because they were trying to “get rid of sinful deeds” such as music and alcohol that go against Islamic law.
During his trial over the bombings, Bashir was found to have given his blessing when the plan was insinuated before the attack. The Supreme Court overturned the determination, finding no orders given by the cleric or conspiracy involving him….
“What we have to do now is work hard to make Indonesia implement Islamic law because Indonesia is actually supposed to be an Islamic state. But successive governments have not been willing to implement it,” the cleric said….
Wearing a white robe, the white-bearded Bashir still routinely leads an Islamic prayer five times a day at a big mosque at the centre of his Al-Mukmin Islamic school….
