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Cleric
jailed over Bali bombings
An Indonesian court has found the radical cleric Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir guilty of conspiracy over the 2002 Bali bombings,
in which 202 people died.
But he was cleared of more serious charges over a bomb attack
on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003.
Ba'asyir, who was jailed for two-and-a-half years, had denied
the charges and is expected to appeal.
Australia, which lost 88 people in the Bali attacks, said
the relatively lenient sentence was "disappointing".
"We are disappointed with the length of the sentence,"
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told the BBC.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Jakarta also expressed
disappointment at the sentence "given the gravity of
the charges on which he was convicted".
At the end of the court case, a statement read out by the
five judges said Ba'asyir had not been directly involved
in carrying out the Bali blasts, but had given his approval
for the attacks.
Ba'asyir addressed the court after his sentence was delivered,
saying: "I don't accept this verdict. This is not justice.
God protect us from evil and its allies. Please, either
open their hearts or destroy them."
He reportedly smiled broadly as he was led out of court,
while his supporters climbed onto chairs with chants of
"God is greatest".
The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Jakarta says it was always going
to be a difficult and complex case for the prosecution to
prove.
Their case was undermined when witnesses gave contradictory
testimony, and a former US State Department interpreter
gave evidence that appeared to back up the defence's claims
that the trial was a result of US pressure.
Cheers
Our correspondent says the atmosphere in the court swung
from one extreme to another as the verdict was read out.
The announcement that Ba'asyir would not be convicted of
the Marriott hotel attack - which killed 12 people, including
a suicide bomber - was greeted with cheers by his supporters.
But they protested as he was found guilty of the Bali bombings.
The cleric was convicted over the Bali bombings under ordinary
criminal legislation, rather than the harsher anti-terror
laws, which were only brought in after the 2002 attacks.
A statement by the court said Ba'asyir was aware of the
conspiracy behind the Bali bombings.
"The defendant knew that the perpetrators of the bombing
were people who have been trained in bomb-making in Pakistan
and Afghanistan... the conditions of evil conspiracy have
been met," the statement said.
'Al-Qaeda ties'
Prosecutors who accused Ba'asyir of inspiring both the Bali
and Marriott attacks had pushed for a jail sentence of eight
years.
He was, however, jailed for immigration violations.
Police rearrested him in April 2004, as soon as he left
prison, citing new evidence linking him to JI.
The US has alleged JI has ties to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda
network.
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