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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesian appeals court clears Abu Bakar Bashir of treason |
| 2003-12-01 |
| An Indonesian appeals court cleared militant leader Abu Bakar Bashir of treason and reduced his sentence from four years to three, court officials said Monday. The court upheld Bashir’s conviction on lesser charges of forging identity documents. Bashir was convicted in September of treason in a plot to overthrow Indonesia’s secular government but cleared of charges of being the leader of the al-Qaida linked Southeast Asia terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. The decision was widely criticized by foreign governments who maintain that Bashir is the spiritual head of the group. A senior court official and Bashir defense attorney Achmad Michdan said Monday that an appeals court had thrown out the treason conviction. Michdan added that his team was not satisfied with the decision and wanted all charges dropped. He said he would appeal to the Supreme Court. Keeping Bashir in jail for three years for forging identity papers was unfair, he said. "There is political pressure from America, Australia and Singapore,’’ he said. "The law has proved that Abu Bakar Bashir is innocent.’’ The decision to reduce the sentence and reverse the treason conviction was made last month by the Jakarta High Court but only revealed on Monday. A court official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the court cleared Bashir of treason because there was not enough evidence to support the charge. Bashir, 65, was arrested shortly after the Bali attack amid intense pressure on Indonesia to crack down on extremism. He has always maintained that he was not involved in terrorism. He was not charged with involvement in either the Bali or Marriott attacks. Bashir runs a religious boarding school in Central Java. Many of its graduates are wanted by Indonesian police on suspicion of terror attacks. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #4 And let's not forget the combination of cash, clerical blessings, and official patronage working to buy this mutt out of jug... |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-12-1 2:16:27 PM |
| #3 Baasyir Cleared But Case Uncertain Lawyers representing radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir were up in arms Monday as two key issues in the cleric’s struggle aganist the state came to a head. While they waited for official notification of the good news – that an appeals court had cleared their client of treason – their frustration at Baasyir’s continued detention turned into threats of further legal action. I think, rather, the Indonesian government is doing what it can within the laws of the country to keep this guy where he belongs. Compare this to busting the mob in the US -- even though you know someone is dirty, it may take some time to build the proper case to lock them up and throw away the key . . . |
| Posted by: cingold 2003-12-1 2:11:39 PM |
| #2 Since he's supposedly imprisoned, yet holds what amounts to press conferences and gives interviews, this strikes me as merely reducing the duration of his mild inconvenience. Some of his statements since his "trial" border on sedition, but if they can't can his ass for conspiring to assassinate the current President, then what's a little sedition? In that extra-judicial vein you mentioned, tipper... This is the kind of guy they had in mind when the CIA & KGB made their gentlemen's agreement regards "wet" operations. I think this would be a good way to spend $20K-$30K with an independent contractor. I wonder if Max Von Sydow would like to reprise his "Joubert" character from "3 Days Of The Condor" for the hit... |
| Posted by: .com 2003-12-1 11:05:16 AM |
| #1 How do you express your frustration, no, rage at something like this. This mongrel is the spiritual leader of a group which is responsible for the death of 202, including 88 Australian, innocent victims in Bali. There will have to be extra judicial justice handed out to mongrels who can circumvent justice in corrupt countries. I can't see any other way. |
| Posted by: tipper. 2003-12-1 10:32:09 AM |