JAKARTA, May 20 (UPI) -- Detained Indonesian Muslim cleric and terror suspect Abu Bakar Baasyir Thursday called for an early trial, promising to prove his innocence.
Baasyir has refused to cooperate with authorities or respond to questions from interrogators, insisting that he would give information in court, said the cleric's close aid Fauzan Al-Anshori, after visiting Baasyir in jail.
Police rearrested Baasyir on April 30 after the 66-year-old cleric walked out of a Jakarta prison after serving 18 months for immigration violations and forgery.
The police claim they have new evidence to prove Baasyir is a leader of the al-Qaida-linked regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah. He is to be charged with involvement in a string of attacks between 1999 and 2002, including the 2002 Bali bombings that left 202 people dead.
On May 17, Baasyir filed a lawsuit accusing the government of wrongful arrest. His lawyers said his arrest was based on old evidence and claimed it was ordered by Washington, charges denied by the Indonesian and U.S. governments.
