Jakarta, 28 Oct. (AKI/Jakarta Post) - The Indonesian government has confirmed that al-Qaeda linked Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)'s alleged spiritual leader, Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, will have his jail term cut further to mark the Idul Fitri Islamic holiday next week, despite a request by Australia's government. Prosecutors had asked for an eight-year prison term for Bashir, for inciting the 2002 bombings of a Bali nightclub that killed 202 including 88 Australians.
| Sooner he gets out, sooner the SAS can 'visit' him. |
Indonesia's justice and human rights minister Hamid Awaluddin would not reveal the length of the remission, but said that like other prisoners, Bashir was entitled to have his jail term cut owing to his good conduct while serving his 30-month imprisonment for conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombings. "Under the prevailing regulations on remission, Bashir is eligible for the remission," Hamid said. The government is revising the regulation upon the request of Australia, which Hamid said would only be issued by the end of November. Bashir was previously granted a four and a half-month remission in observance of Indonesia's Independence Day in August.
JI militants are believed to have masterminded the deadly Bali nightclub bombings in October, 2002, as well a number of other bomb attacks, including - most recently - the 1 October suicide bombings of tourist targets on Bali that killed 22 people; a bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta in September 2004; and a similar strike at the JW Marriott hotel, also in Jakarta, in August, 2003, which left 12 dead. JI's goal is the establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesia and in other parts of South East Asia. |