WTF are those Indons thinking? Are they sick? 
Indonesia to cut sentences of militants, including
Bashir: ministers
JAKARTA: Indonesia's government plans to grant reprieves to
convicted militants including 2002 Bali bombing conspirator Abu
Bakar Bashir to mark an important Muslim festival, a report
said.
Further sentence cuts for militants such as Bashir are likely to
anger Australia, which has protested over previous remissions for
people convicted over the 2002 Bali bombings which left 88
Australians dead among the 202 killed.
The 67-year-old cleric was sentenced in March for a criminal
conspiracy leading to the bombings.
He is accused by some foreign governments of being the spiritual
leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah Islamic militant group which has
been blamed for both Bali bombings and a string of other
attacks.
"As long as the regulations have not been revised, all prisoners
will be given a sentence cut in line with their rights under
prevailing laws and regulations," Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin
was quoted by the Pikiran Rakyat newspaper as saying.
Every year Indonesia grants sentence cuts to prisoners considered
well-behaved to mark independence day and important religious
festivals.
But Australia has called on Jakarta to exempt militants including
Bashir from the annual sentence cuts, with Prime Minister John
Howard warning that any further reduction for Bashir would cause
"deep and lasting anger" in Australia.
"The Republic of Indonesia, as a sovereign state, must not be
dictated by the wishes of other countries. The matter of the
sentence cuts is based on prevailing regulations and laws,"
Awaluddin said.
He said that according to the regulations, all prisoners who
behaved well had the right to a cut in their sentence.
"This year, (we) will continue to accord the sentence cuts to those
prisoners who meet the criteria," he added.
On August 17 Bashir's 30-month sentence was cut by more than four
months to mark Indonesian independence day, triggering anger in
Australia.
A Jakarta prison official has said Bashir may be among thousands of
prisoners to receive sentence cuts to mark the main Muslim festival
of Eid al-Fitr later this week.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda earlier this month said the
government was reviewing the presidential decree on remissions
particularly concerning serious crimes, including terrorism, but he
gave no more details or time-frame.
Under the remissions decree, prisoners who have served between six
months and one year are eligible for a one-month sentence cut and
those serving more than one year could get two months struck
off.
Bashir on Tuesday condemned the latest Bali attacks, saying that
bombings in non-combat zones would only claim innocent victims. -
AFP/de
