SYDNEY (AFP): Australia will ask Indonesia not to reduce the jail sentence of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir for his role in instigating the Bali bombings, Foreign Minister Alexander Downersaid on Monday.
Ba'asyir, jailed in March for 30 months, will have his sentence cut as prisoners across Indonesia are granted leniency to mark independence day on Wednesday, Indonesian media reported at the weekend.
The Australian government, which lost 88 citizens in the October 2002 blasts which killed 202 people, had already expressed disappointment at the length of Ba'asyir's jail term.
"We wouldn't want to see his already rather short sentence reduced and our ambassador is taking this matter up with the Indonesians," Downer told reporters.
"We will get a report back from him in time."
Downer said the ambassador was meeting the Indonesian attorney-general and justice minister to discuss Australia's concerns.
Ba'asyir is accused by some foreign governments of being the spiritual leader of the Southeast Asian extremist group Jamaah Islamiyah, blamed for the Bali attack and a string of other bombings.
Australia's opposition Labor Party also objected to a cut in Ba'asyir's sentence, comparing his 30 months in jail with the 20 years' imprisonment handed out by an Indonesian court to an Australian woman found guilty of smuggling marijuana into Bali.
"Most Australians would ask why is it that Schapelle Corby gets sentenced to 20 years for importing marijuana, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir gets 30 months for participating in the murder of nearly100 Australians," foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said.
"I think the Australian people would want to see this sentence of at least 30 months fully carried out and for there not to be any further reductions in it." (*)
Taken from The Jakarta Post
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