http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,12487883,00.html
Australia 'interfering' in Bashir sentence AAP 09mar05 JAKARTA: Lawyers for firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir accused Australia of hypocrisy yesterday as they lodged an appeal against his 30-month sentence for being part of the "evil conspiracy" behind the Bali bombings. Filing an appeal with the Jakarta High Court, one of Bashir's legal team, Wirawan Adnan, said Australian protests about the short sentence given to the 66-year-old last week were interfering in Indonesia's legal system. "It's more than interference in fact. It's intervention," he said. "Australia talks to us about democracy, but this is nowhere near democracy." A Jakarta court last week sentenced Bashir for his involvement in an "evil conspiracy" that led to the Bali bombings, but cleared him on charges of planning or inciting terrorist attacks. The appeal, which must be finalised within three months, argues the verdict against Bashir was solely based on a police statement purportedly made by a convicted Bali bomber named Mubarok, whose veracity was not proven during the trial. Australia has urged prosecutors to appeal, and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer ordered ambassador David Ritchie to complain the sentence was not harsh enough. Australia has named Bashir as a leading terror chief and accused him of being the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah terror network, blamed for the Bali attacks. Mr Adnan said that when tied to Australian complaints about the drug trial of Gold Coast woman Schapelle Corby in Bali, Canberra was engaging in the type of political interference with the courts that it often lectured Indonesia's Government about stopping. AAP [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/rkgkPB/UOnJAA/Zx0JAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
