Bashir 'to be free on June 1' By Marian Carroll in Denpasar
February 17, 2006 THE lawyer for the Muslim cleric accused of inspiring the terrorists who carried out the 2002 Bali bombings expects his client Abu Bakar Bashir to be released from prison on June 1. However, Wirawan Adnan fears Australia might try to pressure Indonesian authorities to keep his client behind bars. Bashir is serving a 30-month term for involvement in the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Indonesian police and the Australian Government blame Jemaah Islamiah for that attack and accuse Bashir of being its spiritual head, although he denies any wrongdoing. Last August Bashir had one month cut off his sentence to mark Indonesian independence celebrations. "By June 1 he will have served his full 29 months so he will be a free man," Mr Adnan said. Indonesian authorities have been able to keep Bashir locked up repeatedly in recent years after Australia and United States labelled him a dangerous terror threat. He was arrested in Indonesia a week after the 2002 bombings and was first put on trial in 2003. But terrorism charges linked to the Bali attacks at that time were thrown out. He was then found guilty of separate immigration offences and jailed. Just as he completed that sentence, police cited fresh terror evidence and rearrested him in April last year. He was sentenced again in March last year for involvement in the Bali bombings. Mr Adnan said the Indonesian Government should not try to repeat the same tactic against his client. He said it would also be in the interests of the Australian Government not to lean on Indonesia to keep him locked up. To do so would only make Australia look "foolish" in the eyes of most Indonesians, he said. "Trying to keep him locked up would be ridiculous," the lawyer said. Mr Adnan said his client has had nothing to do with terrorism. "He has told me that he will forgive the Indonesian Government and the Australian Government for doing this to him," Mr Adnan said of Bashir's imprisonment. "He will not try to sue the Government or anything. He just accepts this is coming from God as part of his struggle. "I have faith in him that he is harmless." Mr Adnan is a Jakarta-based lawyer who is also representing Wollongong man Martin Stephens who was this week jailed for life as one of the Bali Nine heroin smugglers. Ironically while Mr Adnan has cautioned Australia not to interfere with Bashir's case, he has called on Canberra to push Jakarta on the Bali Nine cases as appeals are launched against two death sentences and seven life terms. http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18181465-5001028,00.html 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/
