Terrorism charges against an Indonesian Cleric Bashir, which he denies

Indonesia's well-known Islamic cleric on Thursday denied charges that he helped terrorist set up a new terrorist cell and training camp and attacks on Western hotels and embassies. He claims that he has become a victim of a U.S. Conspiracy and all other charges against him are fabricated. He was twice convicted for terrorism related issues and this time if he is found guilty, he will suffer maximum penalty-death. Hundreds of supporters waited at the tightly guarded court for the co-founder of the al-Qaeda-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah, which is blamed for a string of deadly suicide bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali bombings. There was quite a commotion when the Police did not allow the supporters and police quickly regained them back. Prosecutors say Mr. Bashir helped set up, fund and arm a new terrorist cell uncovered a year ago in Aceh province that was allegedly planning attacks in the capital modeled after those carried out in India's financial center of Mumbai in 2008, when 10 gunmen mowed down more than 160 people.
Prosecutors say Mr. Bashir's goal was to carve out an Islamist state in the secular nation of 237 million people."My arrest was an order from foreign countries, because the U.S. and Australia do not want to see me free. The police want to make sure I stay in jail. They'd like to kill me, if they could “said Mr. Bashir, wearing a white skull cap and a robe. Indonesia was thrust into the front lines of the battle against terrorism in 2002, when al-Qaeda-linked nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists. There have been many attacks after that. This is not the first time Mr.Bashir is seen to be a driving force behind the terrorist attacks. He was arrested after the Bali bombings but due to no hard core evidence, his imprisonment was reduced from four year prison to 18 months for immigration violations. But soon after his release, he was arrested again and was sentenced to two and half years imprisonment for inciting nightclub blasts. After his release in the year 2006, he started making his heated speeches at rallies and mosque condemning foreigners.