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AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Mon Oct 31, 2005 1:20 AM ET

Indonesia to cut sentences of militants, including Bashir: ministers

JAKARTA, (AFP) - Indonesia's government plans to grant reprieves to convicted militants including 2002 Bali bombing conspirator Abu Bakar Bashir to mark an important Muslim festival, a report said.

Further sentence cuts for militants such as Bashir are likely to anger Australia, which has protested over previous remissions for people convicted over the 2002 Bali bombings which left 88 Australians dead among the 202 killed.

The 67-year-old cleric was sentenced in March for a criminal conspiracy leading to the bombings. He is accused by some foreign governments of being the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah Islamic militant group which has been blamed for both Bali bombings and a string of other attacks.

"As long as the regulations have not been revised, all prisoners will be given a sentence cut in line with their rights under prevailing laws and regulations," Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin was quoted by the Pikiran Rakyat newspaper as saying.

Every year Indonesia grants sentence cuts to prisoners considered well-behaved to mark independence day and important religious festivals.

But Australia has called on Jakarta to exempt militants including Bashir from the annual sentence cuts, with Prime Minister John Howard warning that any further reduction for Bashir would cause "deep and lasting anger" in Australia.

"The Republic of Indonesia, as a sovereign state, must not be dictated by the wishes of other countries. The matter of the sentence cuts is based on prevailing regulations and laws," Awaluddin said.

He said that according to the regulations, all prisoners who behaved well had the right to a cut in their sentence.

"This year, (we) will continue to accord the sentence cuts to those prisoners who meet the critera," he added.

On August 17 Bashir's 30-month sentence was cut by more than four months to mark Indonesian independence day, triggering anger in Australia.

A Jakarta prison official has said Bashir may be among thousands of prisoners to receive sentence cuts to mark the main Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr later this week.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda earlier this month said the government was reviewing the presidential decree on remissions particularly concerning serious crimes, including terrorism, but he gave no more details or timeframe.

Under the remissions decree, prisoners who have served between six months and one year are eligible for a one-month sentence cut and those serving more than one year could get two months struck off.

Bashir on Tuesday condemned the latest Bali attacks, saying that bombings in non-combat zones would only claim innocent victims.

Copyright © 2005 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
 


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