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Australia asks that Indonesia not cut Bashir's sentence

Australia will ask Indonesia not to reduce the jail sentence of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for his role in instigating the Bali bombings, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday. Bashir, jailed in March for 30 months, will have his sentence cut as prisoners across Indonesia are granted leniency to mark independence day tomorrow, Indonesian media reported at the weekend.

A spokesman for Indonesia's Cipinang prison said yesterday that his office had recommended a remission of two months and 15 days for Bashir to Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin.

"The formal decision whether our recommendation for Mr. Bashir has been approved will be announced [tomorrow] morning during the Independence Day ceremony here," the spokesman said.

The Australian government, which lost 88 citizens in the October 2002 blasts which killed 202 people, had already expressed disappointment at the length of Bashir's jail term.

"We wouldn't want to see his already rather short sentence reduced and our ambassador is taking this matter up with the Indonesians," Downer said. "We will get a report back from him in time."

Bashir is accused by some foreign governments of being the spiritual leader of the Southeast Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for the Bali attack and a string of other bombings. Remissions have been proposed for 19 of 24 convicted Bali bombers along with some 53,000 other prisoners who will have their sentences cut as Indonesia celebrates its 60th anniversary, the state Antara news agency said.

Three of the plotters on death row and two others jailed for life are not eligible.

Australia's opposition Labor Party also objected to a cut in Bashir's sentence, comparing his 30 months in jail with the 20 years' imprisonment handed out by an Indonesian court to an Australian woman found guilty of smuggling marijuana into Bali.

"Most Australians would ask why is it that Schapelle Corby gets sentenced to 20 years for importing marijuana, Abu Bakar Bashir gets 30 months for participating in the murder of nearly 100 Australians," foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said.

"I think the Australian people would want to see this sentence of at least 30 months fully carried out and for there not to be any further reductions in it," he said.
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