•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Presenting his preliminary defense before the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday, defendant Muhammad Jibriel Abdul Rahman denied knowing of the terrorist plot to bomb two luxury hotels in the capital on July 17, saying he had no role in the deadly attacks.

The 25-year-old disputed his indictment, arguing that simply knowing people who allegedly carried out the attacks did not make him a party to the suicide bombings that claimed nine lives at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in South Jakarta.

“If we know somebody, does that mean we also know all his business and what he has in mind?” Jibriel said, responding to the prosecution’s case last week that accused him of “hiding information and failing to report to authorities about acts of terrorism,” as well as a misdemeanor charge of forging documents.

“When the person we know plots and commits a crime, can we be blamed for knowing the plot beforehand? Does it mean that we hid information about the crime?” the defendant told the court.

Prosecutors allege that Jibriel had met with Noordin M Top, Southeast Asia’s most-wanted fugitive at the time and the leader of a violent wing of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant network, and his close aide, Saifuddin Zuhri, to discuss an attack to rival the Sept. 11 strike on New York.

They also accused Jibriel of using fake documents to travel to Saudi Arabia with Saifuddin in order to secure $100 million in financing for the attack under the guise of performing the umroh , a minor Islamic pilgrimage.

The suspicion was based on an e-mail on Aug. 23, 2008, from Jibriel to his brother, Ahmad Isrofil Mardhotillah, who was studying in Saudi Arabia at the time, allegedly describing a meeting with Noordin, plans for the attack and the request for financial support.

According to the prosecution, Noordin was also one of Jibriel’s teachers at the Lukmanul Hakim Islamic boarding school in Malaysia between 1998 and 1999.

But Jibriel said the prosecution’s case was “based merely on assumptions” by the police and did not clearly prove he had the intent to participate in any attack.

“I ask for a preliminary ruling in the case to overturn the indictment and restore my name and reputation,” he told the three-member panel of judges.

At the sidelines of the hearing, the defendant distributed a statement among the audience members to outline his determination for jihad , or holy war.

“Frankly speaking, my brothers, without faith and confidence I would have been shaken by this test from God, by the difficulties resulting from the accusations and slander from those thagut ,” the statement read. Thagut is an Arabic term that is often used by Indonesian militant groups to describe secular governments.

Jibriel’s defense team slammed prosecutors for bringing serious charges on their client based solely on an e-mail and even questioned why all recent terrorism cases had been tried in the South Jakarta District Court.

“In their attempt to cover the constraints in human resources issues, the Attorney General’s Office has always brought terrorism cases to the South Jakarta District Court, although it’s not its jurisdiction,” said lawyer Achmad Michdan, adding that the trial was unlawful because Jibriel was arrested in Pamulang, which is in West Java’s jurisdiction.

Another of Jibriel’s lawyers, Haryadi Nasution, said after the hearing that Jibriel had traveled to Saudi Arabia on a fake passport to avoid the lengthy bureaucratic process.

“The name Muhammad Jibriel has given him problems in obtaining a passport from the immigration office, just like during the Suharto era,” the lawyer explained.

If convicted, Jibriel faces 15 years in jail for the terrorism charge and six years for forgery. The hearing will reconvene next week for prosecutors to prepare their response.