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Terror suspect: Abu Bakar Ba'asyir

Achmad Michdan, a member of Muslim Lawyers Team, who defends terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, denied Friday that Ba'asyir funded military-style training camp in Aceh, saying that Ba'asyir's money was managed by his private assistant.

"I never made the statement that ustad (teacher) Ba'asyir funded the (training) camp in Aceh. He has never had a business with banks," Achmad Michdan told Tempointeraktif.com on Friday.

Ba’asyir was arrested in West Java on Monday on his way to his home in Solo, Central Java. A day earlier, the police raided the hideouts of several terrorist suspects in the province, arresting five people.

Ba’asyir was named a suspect on Tuesday and detained the following day.

Michdan said Ba'asyir received donations from many parties but he had never asked for them, and his treasurer would then distribute the donations to those who needed them most.

The lawyer also said Ba'asyir bank account was managed by his private assistant. "So, it is not him (Ba'asyir) who funded the Aceh (camp)."

Earlier, on Thursday, Michdan confirmed that Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT), led by Ba'asyir, was one of the financiers of the military-style training in Aceh. However, he said that the training was not connected with any terrorism activities but as a preparation just in case something happened to Muslims, just like what had happened in Palestine.

He even said that JAT was not alone in supporting the Aceh training, a number of other Islamic organizations also sent their men to the training there.

Until today, his lawyers do the talking for Ba’asyir. Ba’asyir has vehemently denied to talk to the police, saying that he would talk only in court because he believed the police were acting in the interests of the enemy of Islam, in particular the US and Israel.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said Friday that police would continue investigation into Ba'asyir's the case despite the latter's refusal to answer any questions from the police.

Edward said the police respected Ba'asyir's decision to not answer questions, but they were preparing evidence to charge him.

“When the investigation is over, we will go ahead with the case,” Edward said as quoted by kompas.com.

“The investigation into the case has been going for a long time, we have collected testimonies and evidence,” he added.

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