A prominent Muslim militant was acquitted Thursday of urging his followers to wage a war against Indonesia's Christian minority — a verdict likely to raise questions about the country's commitment to crack down on Islamic radicals.
Jafar Umar Thalib, leader of the now-defunct Laskar Jihad militia, smiled and waved as the verdict was read out. His supporters chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) and cheered as Thalib left the courtroom.
Judge Mansur Nasution said prosecutors had failed to prove that Thalib was guilty of inciting his followers to violence in a speech delivered in April at the main mosque in the eastern town of Ambon — the scene of sectarian bloodshed for more than three years. Two days later, an unidentified gang of Muslims attacked a Christian village and killed 12 people.
Thalib also was accused of insulting President Megawati Sukarnoputri in the same speech.
"The defendant must be acquitted," Nasution said in the East Jakarta District Court. "The prosecutors did not support the charges against Thalib."
Laskar Jihad has been blamed for hundreds of deaths in the three-year religious war in the Maluku islands and in Central Sulawesi that ended in 2001.
The group was reportedly set up by a hardline faction within the Indonesian army following the overthrow of longtime military dictator President Suharto in 1998 with the aim of destabilizing democratic governments.
It was abruptly disbanded soon after the Oct. 12 Bali nightclub bombings, when international attention focused on radical groups operating within Indonesia.
Prosecutors had demanded Thalib be sentenced to a year in prison. But the prosecution's case was undermined by defense attorneys who maintained that a tape of Thalib's speech had been doctored.
"I have felt since the beginning that I am innocent because I never did what I was accused of," Thalib said after the verdict was read out. "Hopefully the tribunal's decision will support efforts toward freedom of speech in Indonesia."
Thalib's trial was closely monitored by the United States, which hopes that Indonesia — the world's most populous Muslim nation — can serve as a bulwark against Islamic extremism.
Jakarta touted Thalib's arrest in May as evidence of the government's cooperation in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
"This is a bad decision because everybody knows that Thalib was involved in the violence in Maluku," said A. Muhammad Asrun, executive director of Judicial Watch Indonesia, a non-governmental group.
"This is unfair and shows that the government is not committed to stopping violence by these radical groups," Asrun said.
Earlier this week, two Christian leaders were each sentenced to three years in jail on charges of plotting a rebellion in Maluku.
Alex Manuputty and Samuel Waileruny, who lead the Maluku Sovereignty Front, were found guilty after encouraging their followers to hoist banned separatist flags.