Posted on 11/02/2005 12:16:18 PM PST by Unam Sanctam
Indonesia will ignore Australian protests and slash the prison sentences of 27 Bali bombers as well as their alleged spiritual leader, radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.
Remissions for thousands of inmates are being handed down to mark the end of Islam's Ramadan fasting month.
Bashir is expected to get one month sliced off his sentence, meaning he could be free by next April.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer travelled to Jakarta last month to persuade President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to block reductions for those convicted of terror offences.
But Indonesia's Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin says they'll go ahead according to existing regulations.
"The Republic of Indonesia, as a sovereign state, must not be dictated by the wishes of other countries," Awaluddin said this week. "... all prisoners will be given a sentence cut in line with their rights under prevailing laws and regulations."
Australian officials have been working with their Indonesian counterparts to re-draft laws and exclude terrorists from automatic remissions on major religious and national holidays.
But Indonesian justice ministry officials say the revisions will not be completed in time for Thursday's Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday, known as Lebaran.
Bashir is serving what originally was a 30-month jail term for conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, among them 88 Australians.
He also got a four-month cut as part of independence day celebrations in August.
Government officials say the jail terms of 27 of the 2002 Bali bombers will be cut on Thursday by around six weeks each.
While the three death-row planners are excluded, around 19 bombers held in Denpasar's notorious Kerobokan Prison will receive remissions, said Mayun Mataram, the head of the Bali Prisons Division.
Another seven bombers being held in the East Kalimantan capital Balikpapan will receive sentence cuts, along with another being held at national police headquarters in Jakarta to help the investigation into last month's triple suicide bombings in Bali.
Even the youngest son of former Indonesian strongman Suharto - Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra - will be granted a six-week reduction in his sentence for ordering the assassination of a judge.
But convicted Gold Coast drug smuggler Schapelle Corby will be excluded because her appeal process is yet to be completed and she has not officially served the mandatory one year of her 15-year sentence to qualify.
Heightening what Prime Minister John Howard has described as "deep and lasting anger" over the cuts in Australia, Bashir's lawyers this week said they would ask Indonesia's highest court to throw out his conviction as soon as the holidays are over.
Lawyer Achmad Michdan said he would apply to the Supreme Court in Jakarta for a judicial review based on a letter given to Bashir's legal team from one of the death-row Bali bombers, so-called "smiling assassin" Amrozi.
In the letter, and in testimony given during Bashir's first trial for terrorism, Amrozi said Bashir had no involvement in the first Bali bombings and other terror attacks in Indonesia.
"The Republic of Islamonesia, as a 3rd world thugocracy, must not be dictated by the wishes of real countries," Awaluddin said this week. ".
Expect more bombings sooner, rather than later.
1. Bashir is expected to get one month sliced off his sentence, meaning he could be free by next April.
2.He also got a four-month cut as part of independence day celebrations in August.
So of an original sentence of 30 months - he will serve 25 months for killing 202 people!!!!!
I guess since many of the dead were non-Muslims, it wasn't a serious crime.
Indonesia has shown the world, they will NOT stand with the civilized world against Islamic terrorism..
The world can expect no less from these bastards than from the most maniacal Jihadist..
I guess it will take a much larger wave surge the next time, to flush that toilet.
Semper Fi
this shows total contempt for other people-anybody that defends these animals out to be thrown out of this country with just the clothes on their backs-that would be justice
Maybe it is time for Australia to take drop a few on Jakarta.
Give them the same sentence and make sure its carried out. Put their heads on display in front of their mosques..
I'm not talking about the girls who were beheaded. These were 3 old women being thrown in jail for 3 years.
You mean the actor?
Where is the Australian SAS when you need them?
They did not reduce the sentence. Supporters blame Australian meddling in Indonesian affairs.
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