Terrorist 'Spiritual' Leader Gets Sentence Reduced

**Papewaio** · 08-17-2005, 05:08

AN Indonesian court has cut a 30-month sentence handed to militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for his role in the Bali bombings by more than four months.

"He received a remission of four months and 15 days," said Dedi Sutardi, the head of Cipinang penitentiary.
He spoke at a press conference to announce remissions for 2000 prisoners to mark Indonesia's Independence Day today.

The sentence reduction, handed to well-behaved prisoners annually on Independence Day, is likely to anger Australia, which lost 88 citizens in the 2002 blasts and had already raised concerns about the potential sentence cut.

"Abu Bakar Bashir deserves a remission because he is behaving very well. All he does in prison is devote himself to religious service," Mr Sutardi said, adding that he expected Bashir to be free in April next year.

So death for drug smuggling and less then two years for consipiracy to kill over 200 people...

**Red Harvest** · 08-17-2005, 05:50

Originally Posted by Papewaio

Bashir to get out of jail early

So death for drug smuggling and less then two years for consipiracy to kill over 200 people...

I was in Singapore when the Bali bombing happened, 14 pages in the Straits times... Indonesia is one incredibly screwed up place. This b****** getting out of jail show's just how backwards they are as a nation.

**Adrian II** · 08-17-2005, 06:37

Originally Posted by Papewaio

So death for drug smuggling and less then two years for consipiracy to kill over 200 people...

I spoke to a radical young Dutch Muslim two years ago who had travelled to Indonesia in order to make 'contacts' and who had been arrested by the Indonesian police after they were warned by the Dutch authorities about his arrival. The guy told me he was treated like a prince and policemen and jail guards confessed to him that they secretly agreed with him and hoped that his kind of 'visitor' would be welcomed in the near future in Indonesia. A bad omen.

**bmolsson** · 08-17-2005, 07:05

There where hundreds of drug convicts that received sentence reduction today (national day). Several of them foreigners. Regardless what you think about it, that is the law here. Good behavior gives you a reduction.

Also to note, even if I believe that Bashyir is one of the most evil persons alive, he was still convicted with much weaker evidence than for example the Corby girl. The law is the law and the international community need to cooperate better to get these guys. For example one key withness was not allowed in to court since he was in custody in another country. Indonesian law and law enforcement have it's flaws, but still we need to see things for what it is.......

**Papewaio** · 08-17-2005, 07:33

... which is judges shaking hands with militia, and terrorists being taken out to starbucks by police chiefs... a very thin veneer of justice.

**bmolsson** · 08-17-2005, 07:51

Originally Posted by Papewaio

... which is judges shaking hands with militia, and terrorists being taken out to starbucks by police chiefs... a very thin veneer of justice.

This is not something exclusive for Indonesia. Idiots in uniform are evenly spread around the world....

**Papewaio** · 08-17-2005, 07:56

This goes a bit beyond incompetence. This is agreement:

Bali bomber spotted having coffee in mall

Ali Imron, the so-called repentant bomber sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the attacks which claimed more than 200 lives, was spotted having coffee at Starbucks with the director of Indonesian narcotics and drugs Brigadier-General Gorries Mere.

East Timor militia leader faces Indon court over abuses

Guterres was deputy commander of the militia groups, set up by Jakarta ostensibly to maintain security in the province.

He was also the flamboyant chief of the Aitarak militia gang based in capital Dili who threatened four days before the vote that the town would be turned into a "sea of fire" if independence was declared.

With the overwhelming vote to secede, East Timor was ransacked by militia and more than 1,000 people were killed.

Prosecutors today claimed Guterres incited an attack on the home of independence leader Manuel Carrascalao, where 136 refugees were sheltering on April 17, 1999.

Carrascalao's adopted teenage son was among 12 who died in the attack.

must be killed," he was accused of telling his supporters in a scene at the governor's office that was widely televised, Yusuf said.

But absent from the charges was any reference to allegations by East Timorese human rights group Yayasan HAK that Guterres led an attack which resulted in a massacre in the town of Liquica in the same month.

Under the Dutch-based Indonesian legal system, Guterres, who is not in detention, was not required to enter a plea.

Afterwards, Guterres, wearing a scarf with Indonesia's national colours of red and white, approached the members of the bench, all of whom agreed to shake his hand.