Govt rips U.S. over Ba'asyir<\/p>\n
Jakarta, Deutsche Presse-Agentur<\/p>\n
The government blasted on Thursday the double standards applied
\nby the United States and Australia in criticizing a supreme court
\ndecision earlier this week to reduce the jail sentence of a
\nradical Moslem cleric and a similar court decision in Germany.<\/p>\n
"We're sick and tired of people always second guessing us and
\ndoubting us when the same standard is not being applied to
\nothers," said Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty
\nNatalegawa.<\/p>\n
Marty noted that when Germany Federal Supreme Court on March 4
\noverturned a 15-year jail sentence for Moroccan Monir al-
\nMotassadeq convicted of a role in the September 11, 2001 suicide
\nattack on the World Trade Center, no governments objected to the
\ndecision.<\/p>\n
"When the decision was reached by the Supreme Court in Germany
\non March 4, overturning Motassadeq's 15 year sentence and
\ndeclaring a retrial, not a single government including the United
\nStates and Australia, interpreted that as a lack of a resolve on
\nthe part of the government of Germany to fight terrorism," said
\nMarty.<\/p>\n
"Why do we not have the same treatment?" Marty told Deutsche
\nPresse-Agentur<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security Tim Ridge during a visit
\nto Indonesia on Wednesday said he regretted the Indonesian
\nSupreme Court's recent decision to reduce the jail term of Abu
\nBakar Ba'asyir and expressed hopes that the cleric would
\neventually be brought to justice.<\/p>\n
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Tuesday also
\nexpressed disappointment over the court's decision.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Supreme Court reduced the jail sentence of Ba'asyir
\nfrom three years to 18 months, effectively allowing him to leave
\njail next month, but refused to overturn the charges against him.<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir, the alleged spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah
\n(JI) Moslem militant group blamed for the Bali bombings and other
\nterrorist acts, was found not guilty of terrorist links by the
\nCentral Jakarta Court in its ruling last September but was
\ncharged with the lesser charges of subversion and breaking
\nimmigration laws.<\/p>\n
The subversion charge was overturned by a higher court last
\nNovember.<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta Court ruled there was insufficient
\nevidence to prove he was the leader of the JI group which has
\nbeen linked to terrorist acts and to the al-Qaeda terrorist
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
On March 4 Germany's Federal Supreme Court judges quashed
\nMotassadeq's February 2003 conviction on a technicality, saying
\nessential evidence, or the lack of it, had not been properly
\naddressed.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-rips-us-over-baasyir-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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