Ba'asyir lawyers seek case review

Ba'asyir lawyers seek case review

JAKARTA: Lawyers for hard-line Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, jailed for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, filed a request for a review of his conviction on Tuesday, one of his lawyers said.

Lawyer Muhammad Assegaf said that the request, filed with the South Jakarta District Court, was based on new evidence as well as contradictions between two different verdicts.

"The new evidence is the denial by one of the Bali bombers that he had met with Ba'asyir before the (2002) Bali bombings to seek his blessing as the court says he did," he said.

Assegaf also said that the verdict of the South Jakarta District Court also clashed with an earlier one by the Central Jakarta District Court. However, he did not elaborate.

Ba'asyir was sentenced in March to 30 months in prison for his involvement in a criminal conspiracy that led to the October 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. --AFP