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Indonesia defends cleric's sentencing

Indonesia yesterday defended its record on fighting terrorism after the US and Australia criticized the two-and-a-half-year sentence given to the alleged spiritual leader of an al-Qaida-linked terror group as too lenient.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natelagawa said the independence of the court that tried Abu Bakar Bashir should be respected, while noting that more than 30 other militants have been sentenced in the 2002 Bali bombings, the bloodiest terror attack blamed on the group.

Natelagawa cited Washington's refusal to give Indonesian officials access to a top Southeast Asian terror suspect in US custody, Hambali, and wondered whether access to him could have strengthened the case against Bashir.

"It's a nagging question, what difference it could have made," he said.

A five-judge panel convicted Bashir on Thursday of criminal conspiracy in the Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, but cleared him of more serious charges under the country's anti-terror law of planning the 2003 attack on the US-owned Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people.

The US and Australian governments contend that Bashir is the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaida-linked group blamed for both attacks as well as a series of alleged terror plots elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

Australian Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said the conviction could spark a violent backlash by Bashir's supporters "because he is such a significant figure."

The 30-month sentence was decried by the governments of the US and Australia, which were hoping for a lengthy prison term to deter terrorism in the world's most populous Muslim nation. In 2003, an Indonesian court cleared Bashir of related terror charges.

Natelagawa said the government respected the independence of the judiciary, and noted that prosecutors could still appeal the verdict. He noted that Indonesia sentenced more than 30 people over the Bali attacks, including three senior figures in the conspiracy who were sentenced to death.

Bashir, a 66-year-old cleric known for strong anti-Western and anti-Semitic views and a desire to install an Islamic state in Indonesia, could be released by October 2006, since he has been jailed in the case since last April. He has always denied any wrongdoing.

The US and Australia have never disclosed the evidence they allegedly have linking Bashir to terrorism. Indonesia has repeatedly asked Washington for access to Hambali, an Indonesian citizen also known as Riduan Hisamuddin, saying he could provide key testimony about Bashir's alleged involvement in terrorist activities in Indonesia.

Washington has refused, saying it could jeopardize its investigation of Hambali, who was allegedly involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the US. Hambali was arrested in Thailand in 2003 and is being held by the US at an undisclosed location.

Bashir, who was acquitted of heading Jemaah Islamiyah in the previous trial, remained defiant Thursday. He called US President George W. Bush "evil" and accused the US of pressuring Indonesia to put him on trail.

Intelligence officials say Jemaah Islamiyah has cells across Southeast Asia, where it is believed to be seeking a pan-Islamic state. Two of its purported top leaders -- Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top -- were allegedly central players in the Bali and Jakarta attacks and remain fugitives.
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