The Jakarta Post, 10/5/2005 11:25:38 AM
Australia protests possible cut in Ba'asyir's sentence
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP): Australia on Wednesday protested strongly against any
further reduction in the jail sentence of Bali bombing conspirator and hardline
Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.
"We've certainly registered our strong protest over any remission for Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir," said Justice Minister Chris Ellison. "We totally reject that and we've made
our position veryclear to Indonesia."
Ba'asyir was sentenced in March to 30 months in jail for his involvement in a criminal
conspiracy that led to the October 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali which killed 202
people, including 88 Australians.
The cleric is alleged to be the spiritual leader of the militant group Jamaah Islamiyah
(JI), which has been blamed for both the 2002 attack and last Saturday's suicide
bombings in Bali which killed 19 people, including up to four Australians.
He had his sentence cut by more than four months tocommemorate Indonesia's
independence day in August and could now have another month taken off to mark the
end of the Muslim fasting month in early November, prison officials said.
The head of the Indonesian jail where Ba'asyir 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.
"The reductions are governed by a presidential decree," Sutardi said.
Ellison acknowledged the automatic remissions process in Indonesia, but added: "We
certainly have said that this should not apply to Abu Bakar Ba'asyir who, after all, has
been in prison for terrorism-related offenses and is the spiritual leader of Jamaah
Islamiyah."
From his prison cell, Ba'asyir condemned Saturday's bombings but also said in a
statement the attacks were a sign of God's displeasure with the Indonesian
government.
"These saddening incidents, in essence, are warnings, scolding from Allah to us all
who are not respecting his sharia (Islamic religious laws)," he said. (***)
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