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    October 27, 2011

Indonesian Court Reduces Radical Islamic Cleric's Sentence

   Brian Padden | Jakarta
   Indonesian radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir speaks to journalists from a
   holding cell at the Jakarta court. (File)
   Photo: AFP
   Indonesian radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir speaks to journalists from a
   holding cell at the Jakarta court. (File)

   An Indonesian appeals court Wednesday announced it cut the prison
   sentence of radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir from 15 years to
   nine years. Some legal analysts say they are baffled by the court
   ruling.
   The man known as the spiritual leader of Al Qaeda-linked militants in
   Southeast Asia was convicted in June of terrorist activities in
   connection with setting up and financing a militant training camp and
   sentenced to 15 years in prison.

   Prosecutors said Abu Bakar Bashir was assisting militant groups
   involved in the planning of attacks on foreigners and the
   assassinations of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
   other leaders.
   Criminal lawyer Frans Winarta is a member of the National Law
   Commission of Indonesia and chairman of Peradi, the oldest lawyer
   association in the country. He says he sees no legal basis for reducing
   the sentence of a convicted terrorist like Bashir, who continues to be
   been unrepentant of his actions.
   'As far as I know from my more than 30 year practice, a defendant can
   only get a lighter sentence from a higher court if he shows some
   remorse. That's number one," Winarta explained. "Secondly, if he shows
   some good behavior during the hearing and during the sentence in
   prison.'
   Security analyst Ken Conboy with Risk Management Advisory Indonesia
   says, without an explanation from the court, he can only surmise the
   reason for the sentence reduction.
   'If you look at some of the people who were convicted of involvement in
   that training camp, they were getting sentences in the same, you know,
   eight, nine year range. So I would imagine they were bringing it down,
   his initial sentence down, to the range of the other convictions,'
   Conboy said.
   Conboy says it is not uncommon in Indonesia to see prison sentences
   changed by a higher court and sometimes reinstated by the supreme
   court. Bashir himself has been on trial three times in the past three
   decades. He was found guilty of conspiracy for the 2002 Bali bombing
   that killed more than 200 people, but the supreme court overturned his
   conviction and he was released from his sentence two-and-half years
   early.
   Conboy says it is frustrating to see the gains made by law enforcement
   agencies to apprehend terrorists and dismantle radical organizations
   only to have prosecutors and courts give lenient sentences.

   'The police get high marks for leading the effort to track down the
   terror suspects. They then bring them to court and then it sort of
   falls apart with the prosecutors,' he stated.
   The Indonesian judicial process can be long and complicated and, in
   Bashir's case, the appeals court ruling is not the final verdict.
   Winarta says the Indonesian Supreme Court will certainly review the
   case and he hopes whatever decision it makes will be accompanied by a
   supporting legal opinion.