Homeland Security

DATE=11/09/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=INDONESIA / BASHIR LAWSUIT - L ONLY

NUMBER=2-320280

BYLINE=TIM JOHNSTON

DATELINE=JAKARTA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Indonesia Court Throws Out Militant Libel Suit Against TIME Magazine

INTRO: A court in Indonesia has thrown out a libel suit against Time Magazine brought by a militant Islamic cleric. The cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, had asked for more than 100-million dollars in damages for an article suggesting he was connected to the al Qaida terrorist network. From Jakarta, Tim Johnston reports.

TEXT: Abu Bakar Bashir is currently on trial for his life in Jakarta. He faces charges that he led the al Qaida-linked regional terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah and gave encouragement to the men who carried out a series of bomb attacks on Western targets in Indonesia.

He has always denied any ties to terrorists or their actions. So when Time Magazine published an article that implied he had terrorist connections, he sued.

On Tuesday, judges in a south Jakarta court threw out the case on a technicality, saying that the final responsibility for the article lay with the magazine's editors in New York, who were not named in the suit.

Defrizal Djamaris was the lawyer for Time Magazine.

/// DJAMARIS ACT ///

"The judge agreed with our exception regarding the responsible party according to the Indonesian press law because the plaintiff did not involve the editor-in-chief of in New York as the defendant in this civil case. The judge decided the law suit cannot be accepted."

/// END ACT ///

The case centered on a Time Magazine article written two years ago. Based largely on documents leaked from the Central Intelligence Agency, it accused Bashir of supporting a militant named Omar al-Farouq, who, while in U.S. custody, had allegedly admitted to being al Qaida's representative in South East Asia.

The Jakarta court did not rule on whether the allegations contained in the report were true or false.

Bashir's lawyers say they were surprised by the decision and are considering an appeal. (signed)

NEB/HK/TJ/JJ