--Sebastian
I don't know enough about Indonesia to understand why this would happen, but it can't be good that the leader of the conspiracy beind the Bali bombing is getting a slap on the wrist of 30 months in prison.
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir should spend the rest of his "miserable life" in jail, says Opposition Leader Kim Beazley.
Bashir was sentenced to two-and-a-half years jail yesterday after a court in Jakarta found him guilty of conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Mr Beazley said a life sentence would have been more adequate and the Australian government should do all it could to extend the jail term.
"This man should spend the rest of his miserable life in jail and the Australian government should be doing what it can to put pressure on for an appeal to extend his sentence," Mr Beazley told reporters in Sydney today.
"He has been convicted of a conspiracy that involved the killing of a large number of Australians and others and Indonesians.
"People who do that should spend their lives in jail."
But Mr Beazley did not blame the Indonesian government for the lenient sentence.
"I think the Indonesian government is as horrified as we are," he said.
Is this a case of judicial intimidation or other pressure being exercised by the terrorist group? Is something else weird going on? Is Indonesian conspiracy law really weak? I can't tell from the reports, but whatever the problem is, it is disturbing.
Indonesia has it's problems with corruption, it has only been democracy for a short time, before that it was a dictatorship. I wouldn't read much into this apart from the fact that Bashir was able bribe the judge/prosecution into being nice.
Posted by: Factory | March 05, 2005 at 04:37 AM
If the NYT is right, he was brought to trial because of pressure from us and others, but:
Partly because of that, Bashir was acquitted on all counts but one. "On Thursday, an Indonesian court essentially rejected all of the American accusations, acquitting Mr. Bashir, 66, of all terrorism charges in the bombings in the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, in August 2003, and of having directed the bombings of nightclubs in Bali in October 2002. In what appears to be a concession to the American pressure, the five judges did convict Mr. Bashir of one of eight counts, of criminal conspiracy in connection with the bombings of the Bali nightclubs, because the judges said he "knew the perpetrators," and his words may have encouraged them."
If in fact he was acquitted of everything but 'knowing' the perpetrators and of possibly encouraging them, 30 months seems harsh. (Note: NOT harsh given what we know; harsh given what he was convicted of.) And if part of the reason for his acquittal on all the other charges was that we wouldn't make witnesses available, then I certainly hope we had a good reason.
Posted by: hilzoy | March 05, 2005 at 10:11 AM
You mean Indonesian courts aren't willing to convict someone on hearsay, or on lack of any evidence whatsoever? Gee, maybe they need some advice from US Attorney Generals John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzalez on how to get around those pesky restrictions.
Hilzoy, we probably had excellent reasons not to allow Riudan Isamuddin and Omar al-Faruq out of security detention. They might show signs of having been tortured for years - hell, they might be dead.
Posted by: CaseyL | March 05, 2005 at 10:37 AM
To me, the main issue here is that, in the long run, it is scarier to try to fight terrorists in jungley places than in deserty places. If Al Quaida cells can hide for years in the parched desolate moonscape of Afganistan, think how long could they hide in rural Indonesia, whether the government helped or not!
Posted by: lily | March 05, 2005 at 10:55 AM
Hillzoy's update sounds familiar -- the Germans have been frustrated in their attempts to prosecute terrorists by, among other things, lack of cooperation from the Americans (refusal to release terror suspect-witnesses and transcipts of interrogations to German courts).
American behavior is "incomprehensible," according to the Germans. It certainly is puzzling.
Posted by: notyou | March 05, 2005 at 12:05 PM
"The two men, who are Indonesian nationals"
Hmmm..
Okay, there might be a fear of info exchange (bank accounts & arms caches), and might be fear of setting precedents and losing custody, but most likely is torture and mistreatment, making the testimony inadmissable anyway. This is really messed-up, there are maybe three alternatives:
1)Play WoT as a police action, following all the rules and enduring the hassles and sometime bad results.
2)Play it the way Bushco has played it, halfway between war(tho not really) and police, and not only get messes like this, but endure other consequences of playing outside Int'l law. Of which I may speak later.
3)Declare WWIII, go crazy, full mobilization, and tell everyone they are with us or against us, and mean it. Have the world devote everything to WoT for 5-10 years. For instance, send a squad to Indonesia, and shoot this sucker in the courtroom if he is a danger. If Indonesia arrests the Seals, bomb them. Make it stark, make it harsh, make nations choose. Use our power. Would be very ugly and expensive, but over faster, with permanent positive changes.
#3 may no longer be an option, but could have been.
(PS:Steve Gilliard is outraged by the weak response the Dutch Gov't is giving to threats against representatives by Muslim extremists. There is a wider war going on. CB may have made a bad mistake which was corrected, but there is a wider war.)
Posted by: bob mcmanus | March 05, 2005 at 12:55 PM
I really don't understand why this Administration refuses to cooperate with other countries in keeping terrorists in prison. The explanations given make no sense and show no regard for the law or for other countries.
Posted by: freelunch | March 05, 2005 at 01:23 PM
Steve Gilliard is outraged by the weak response the Dutch Gov't is giving to threats against representatives by Muslim extremists.
tnxs Bob, I read and commented there
Posted by: dutchmarbel | March 05, 2005 at 03:31 PM