AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Wed Oct 5,2005 11:24 PM ET
Bashir lawyer accuses Australia of meddling in Indonesia's
affairs
JAKARTA (AFP) - A lawyer for jailed Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has accused
Australia of meddling in Indonesian legal affairs for protesting a possible reduction in
his client's sentence.
Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison on Wednesday said Australia objected to
any further reduction of the 30 month jail sentence imposed on the hardline cleric in
March for his involvement in a criminal conspiracy that led to the 2002 Bali bombings.
"That is really a rude action by Australia. It is a crude attempt at meddling in the
sovereignty of the Indonesian legal system," said Mohammad Assegaf, one of
Bashir's chief lawyers.
Ellison has said that his office had already registered "strong protests over any
remission for Abu Bakar Bashir," to the Indonesian authorities.
"We totally reject that and we've made our position very clear to Indonesia," he said in
Canberra.
"Whatever Australia says, the real question now is how strong is the authority of the
Indonesian legal system. How far will the country accept that its legal authority be
undermined by foreigners," Assegaf said.
He said that the granting of annual remissions to prisoners was not only governed by
existing regulations but was also a matter that was fully within the authority of a
sovereign government.
The head of the Indonesian jail where Bashir is being held, Dedi Sutardi, told AFP that
the government accords two annual sentence reductions to prisoners for good
conduct if they have already served at least six months.
Under the scheme, Bashir has already had his sentence cut by more than four
months to commemorate Indonesia's independence day in August and could have
another month taken off to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in
early November, Sutardi said.
"I hope that Yudhoyono's government will stand firm in the face of such interference,"
Assegaf said.
Ellison has said that despite the existence of the remissions process in Indonesia,
Bashir should be exempted because "after all, has been in prison for terrorism-related
offences and is the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah."
Jemaah Islamiyah was blamed for the first Bali attack in 2002, which killed 202 people
including 88 Australians, and its alleged religious leader Bashir was jailed for
conspiracy over the bombing.
No action has been taken, however, to outlaw the shadowy organisation.
Known members of the organisation are also suspected of being responsible for
Saturday's bombings in Bali, which left at least 19 people dead, including as many as
four Australians, sparking fresh calls here for the group to be banned.
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