Sun, Aug 14, 2005 page5

• Bashir's prison sentence to be reduced

  BIRTHDAY PRESENT The cleric is one of thousands of prisoners who will benefit from the tradition of cutting jail terms on independence day and other holidays

  • AP
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  A militant cleric jailed for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings will be among 53,000 inmates receiving sentence reductions to mark Indonesia's independence day, authorities and media reports said yesterday.

  The youngest son of former dictator Suharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, is also expected to have his sentence for assassinating a judge reduced when Indonesia celebrates its 60th birthday on Wednesday, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin was cited by the Jakarta Post as saying.

  The 43-year-old former playboy earlier this year had his 15-year sentence reduced by five years on appeal.

  But Abu Bakar Bashir -- the alleged spiritual head of the al-Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah -- would be the most controversial inmate to benefit from a reduction. He was convicted in March of conspiracy in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists. The Supreme Court rejected his appeal earlier this month.

  Others convicted in the Bali blasts will also receive reductions in their prison terms, Hamid told the newspaper, without indicating how many.

  "Convicts with a record of good behavior can get up to 10-months remission," said Mayun Mataram of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in Bali.

  Mataram said 19 of the 24 Bali bombers jailed will get sentence reductions.

  It is an Indonesian tradition to cut jail terms on holidays for some of the country's 105,000 inmates who exhibit good behavior, with only those sentenced to death or life in prison excluded.

  Authorities are expected to announce the length of the reductions on Wednesday, but on average terms are cut by a few months.

  Attorney Wirawan Adnan, who represented many of the Bali bombers including Bashir, said his clients deserve a break just like any other well-behaved inmate.

  "This is quite common. This happens all over the world if you have been a good boy and don't cause trouble," Adnan said.

  "We're talking about human rights, and everyone should be treated the same whether you are a murderer [or] rapist," he said.

  But Peter Hughes, a survivor who suffered serious burns in the Bali attacks, said the bombers should serve out their entire terms.

  "We don't like it but there is not much we can do about," said Hughes of Perth, Australia. "This is not justice. These guys are criminals and murders should be given heavy penalties without a reprieve."

  Bashir was sentenced in March to 30 months in jail for conspiracy in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.

  Bashir insisted he was innocent and that his conviction was part of a US-led campaign to silence him. Prosecutors, who had demanded an eight year sentence and could have asked for death, were angry about the light sentence.

  Both sides appealed. But a Supreme Court earlier this month rejected the appeals and upheld the 30-month jail term.

  The US and its close ally Australia want Bashir to stay behind bars for as long as possible. The Australian Embassy in Jakarta had no comment yesterday about the sentence reduction.

  Jemaah Islamiyah is suspected in several other deadly attacks, including the 2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta that killed 12 people, and the Australian Embassy bombing in September last year that killed 11.
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