Bashir transferred for police questioning

Published December 15, 2002

JAKARTA, Dec 14: Indonesian suspect Abu Bakar Bashir is to refuse to be interrogated after finally being taken to police headquarters following two months’ detention in hospitals, his lawyer said on Saturday.

The lawyer, Muhammad Assegaf confirmed Bashir was transferred from Jakarta police hospital on Saturday morning but said his client would not respond to questioning.

Bashir, 64, has been detained since October 20 as a suspect in a series of church bombings on Christmas Eve 2000 and in a plot to assassinate Megawati Sukarnoputri before she became president. He has dodged serious police questioning by seeking refuge in hospital with respiratory and other problems and his legal team has fought doggedly to keep him under treatment.—AFP