An Indonesian court Tuesday rejected a 110 million dollar libel lawsuit brought by Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir against US magazine Time over an article said to implicate him in terrorism. Judges threw out the "unacceptable" lawsuit saying it failed to name enough defendants and was sent to the wrong address.
Bashir, currently on trial for terrorism accused of inciting the October 2002 Bali bombings and other attacks as head of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, had sought one trillion rupiah (110 million dollars) from Time.
Time, in its September 15, 2002, edition ran an article detailing alleged confessions by a suspected al Qaeda operative, Omar al Faruq. It cited a secret US Central Intelligence Agency document and regional intelligence reports.
The magazine said al Faruq had told the CIA that Bashir, 66, as alleged Jemaah Islamiyah leader, authorised Faruq to use the group's operatives and resources to conduct attacks on US embassies in Southeast Asia in 2002.
Speaking after Tuesday's ruling in the South Jakarta court, Time lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said the verdict was based on failure by Bashir's counsel to name the magazine's chief editor in the United States as a defendant.
They only named Time's Indonesia-based reporters and Southeast Asia's correspondent in their lawsuit.
Bashir's lawyer Achmad Michdan said the verdict "shows that the judges are unfair and do not understand the lawsuit". He added that his team would file an appeal.
Bashir was not present at the libel hearing because he is being held detention for his terrorism trial.
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