ABC AUSTRALIA, 07/06/2005, 23:26:36
Appeal for Abu Bakar Bashir
Lawyers for Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir have filed a new lawsuit
demanding his release from the 30-month jail sentence he is serving for his role in the
Bali bombings.
Named in the lawsuit as defendants were the Indonesian Justice Minister and the
head of Jakarta's Cipinang prison, where Bashir is serving his terrorism sentence.
Bashir was sentenced in March for his involvement in a criminal conspiracy that led to
the October 2002 Bali bombings, in which 202 people died.
He was cleared of more serious charges of planning terrorist attacks.
His appeal was rejected last month by a Jakarta court, prompting his lawyers to take
the case to Indonesia's Supreme Court.
Bashir's lawyers now argue that his status as an appeal court detainee expired on
Sunday, meaning he should have been released.
"This is an act of oppression and confiscation of freedom," said lawyer Wirawan
Adnan.
Bashir, 66, was arrested a week after the Bali bombings, but terrorism charges were
thrown out during trial.
However he was found guilty of immigration offences and jailed.
Police rearrested him in April 2004 as he left prison after serving the immigration
sentence, citing new evidence of terrorist links and of his Jemaah Islamiyah
leadership.
Australia and the United States say the 30-month jail sentence is too lenient.
They insist Bashir is the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah group blamed for the
Bali blasts.
Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for a series of attacks, including a suicide
bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta last September that killed 11
people.
© 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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