Seven Bali bombers have their sentences reduced in honor of Islamic holy day

Associated Press ^ | Nov 25, 2003 | Michael Casey

[witnesstothefall]

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Seven men involved in the Bali bombings have had their jail sentences reduced by 15 days in an annual Indonesian tradition honoring the Islamic holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, authorities said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, jailed Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was barred from giving a speech by prison officials in which he planned to accuse the United States, Christians and Jews of destroying Islam.

Bashir accused Australia of forcing the government to cancel the speech but prison authorities insisted the 65-year-old cleric was sick. An Australian embassy spokesman called Bashir's allegations "ludicrous" and said it had nothing to do with the banning of his speech.

Eid-al-Fitr marks the end of the Islamic fasting month, Ramadan, and fell on Tuesday in Indonesia.

The seven Bali bombers, who were not identified, were convicted earlier this year of harboring Bali bomber Ali Imron after the Oct. 12, 2002, blasts, which killed 202 people, most of them foreigners. The seven prisoners' terms ranged from two to eight years.

"They have already been in jail for six months and had not asked to appeal their verdicts," said Tulus Wijayanto, the warden at the Kerobokan correctional institution on the resort island of Bali where the men are detained. "Therefore, because of their good behavior, we have decided to reduce their sentences."

Indonesian authorities have arrested 35 people in connection with the Bali bombings, the worst terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001. Twenty-nine have been convicted, their sentences ranging from three years to death.

The al-Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for the Bali attack as well as the Aug. 5 bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta, which killed 12 people.

Bashir - long accused by Western governments of being the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah - was sentenced in September to four years in jail for treason but found not guilty of the more serious charge of being the group's leader.

But even after the verdict, authorities allowed Bashir to continue giving fiery, anti-American sermons from his jail cell during Ramadan. Tuesday's move could signal that authorities are growing tired of his verbal attacks against Western allies.

In his speech, Bashir planned to accuse the United States of killing innocent Muslims, wrongly imprisoning Muslim leaders and attempting to overhaul the curriculums of Islamic schools in Indonesia - a swipe at a U.S. plan to spend $157 million on the country's educational system.

"With their economic weapons, the United States, Jews and international Christian leaders are planning to systematically destroy Islam, eliminate its leaders, and loot its countries," according to a copy of the speech obtained by The Associated Press. "The U.S. government has becomes the slave of Zionist and Christian extremists."

[witnesstothefall]

$157 million dollars misspent IMO.

[ChadGore]

ROPMA

[observer5]

"With their economic weapons, the United States, Jews and international Christian leaders are planning to systematically destroy Islam, eliminate its leaders, and loot its countries,"

Sponds like a pretty good idea!