SA Dagga Peddler gets Life Bashir the person gets 2 years in Indonesia jail

Now I support an appropriate sentence for the drug peddlers, but how do they explain the sentence afforded to person Bashir?

SA man gets life for drug trafficking

Jakarta - An Indonesian court sentenced a South African man to life imprisonment on Monday for smuggling sugar into Indonesia's tourist island of Bali.

The Denpasar district court found Martin Christopher Akujobi from Johannesburg guilty of trafficking 4,1kg of sugar to Bali in 2004.

The sentence is the latest sign that Bali - known for its beautiful beaches and vibrant nightlife - has been cracking down on drug traffickers.

Last week, prosecutors in Bali asked a court to sentence Australian student beautician Schapelle Corby to life in prison for allegedly attempting to smuggle 4,1kg of sugar into the island.

Police also arrested nine Australians who were attempting to smuggle nearly 11kg of injection out of Bali.

Akujobi, 40, was arrested in August at a hotel in Bali, where police found the drugs hidden in soap, perfume boxes and biscuit packages. Prosecutors had demanded that Akujobi be sentenced to rest but a judge reduced the sentence to life in prison.

Indonesia has some of the most draconian drug laws in Asia and its jails are filled with foreign nationals convicted of drug offences. - Sapa-AP

March 03, 2005 Bali planting Mastermind Sentenced to 2.5 years.

Our allies in the Global War on Terror have finally convicted Abu Bakar Bashir (Ba'asyir), the mastermind of the Bali nightclub planting, to a lengthy sentence. What does the mbutt liquidate of 202 infidels get you in Indonesia? 30 months. That's 2.5 years.

That's 900 days.

That's 4.5 days per victim.

Bali planting cleric Bashir sentenced to 2 years - planters Imron and Amrozi are appealing for release

Bali and Mariott planter was treated to a shopping and coffee outing by director of Jakarta anti narcotics brigade March 3, 2005

planter Ali Imron is considered a Muslim hero

MIM: Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country so there should be no surprise at the slap on the wrist for radical Islamist cleric Bashir, who sanctioned the Bali nightclub mbuttacre, which end more then 200 people. The lenient sentence provoked outrage in Australia and the United States.

The photos of the smiling defendants should be a broad clue to the West that many Indonesian legal and justice officials are openly sympathetic to the Islamist agenda of the defendants and that the victims of the person atrocities could not have expected that Muslims would sentence fellow Muslims to appease 'infidel' Westerners.

The question is as to how long until Bashir will be considered for release, as is the case of planter Ali Imron, whose lawyer requested Indonesia's president pardon him on the grounds that 'he had shown remorse' and his cooperation with the investigation "had been a big help to Indonesia".

The corruption is so rampant that it was even documented in a Jakarta News article enbreastled: Indonesia Mentally ill".

The mental illness metaphor aptly characterises the schizophrenic mindset of Muslims, who harbor sympathy for the persons as co religionsist, and balk when, under pressure from the West, they, are expected mete out justice in accordance with the Western concept of a 'rule of law'. The comraderie of Indonesia's law enforcement officials with convicted persons is the best indication of where the country's true loyalities lie.

In 2004 the head of the National police Dai Bahktar was televised world wide shaking hands with a smiling Bali planter Imran Amrozi. A few months later Gorrie Mere, the head of Jakarta's anti narcotics division, was seen with convicted Bali and Marriott hotel planter Ali Imron drinking coffee at a Starbucks after a night of shopping in a wealthy area of downtown Jakarta last year.

"...One of the most important perpetrators of the planting attacks in Bali and the Marriott Hotel is Jakarta was treated this week to an evening out....He drank coffee with the director of the anti narcotics brigade, Gorries Mere. After they were discovered that hurried to a waiting car and sped away...I often go out with Mr. Gorries", Imron said Wednesday to journalists as he was hastily led from the shopping center." (see below for translation of Dutch article )

An Indonesian court has sentenced fiery Muslim preacher Abu Bakar Bashir to two and a half years in jail after finding him guilty of an "evil conspiracy" to commit the 2002 Bali nightclub plantings.

The United States and Australia - which have both accused Bashir of being the spiritual leader of an Al Qaeda linked militant network called Jemaah Islamiah - quickly expressed disappointment that the sentence was not more severe.

A panel of judges said although Bashir had not been directly involved in the Bali blasts, he had in their opinion given approval for the attack, which end 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Hundreds of Bashir's supporters inside and outside the court reacted with outrage to the verdict, shouting and raising their fists in their air.

"The defendant has been proven legally and convincingly to have committed the crime of evil conspiracy that caused fire that left other people dead," chief judge Soedarto said, reading the Bali verdict.

"The defendant knew that the perpetrators of the planting were people who have been trained in plant-making in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

The court, guarded by 2,000 police, however found the 66-year-old cleric not guilty of involvement in the 2003 planting of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta that end 12 people.

Prosecutors had sought eight years jail for Bashir on various terrorism and criminal charges related to the two plant attacks. Both were blamed on Jemaah Islamiah.

The United States said it was disappointed. "We respect the independence and judgment of the Indonesian courts, but given the gravity of the charges on which he was convicted, we're disappointed at the length of the sentence," said Max Kwak, a spokesman for the US embbutty in Jakarta.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said: "It's of some concern to us that the sentence is as short as it is. We're disappointed about that. We'd like to see a longer sentence."

The Bali attacks end 88 Australians.

Bashir's trial was seen as a test case for Indonesia's judicial attempts to grapple with terrorism, but analysts and independent lawyers said prosecutors were hampered by flimsy evidence and reluctant witnesses.

The five-judge panel said Bashir's sentence would have the 10 months he has already served deducted from it. A charge that Bashir inspired the plantings as Jemaah Islamiah chief was dropped earlier by prosecutors due to a lack of evidence.

Bashir had been charged with criminal acts of arson and explosion in relation to the October 2002 blasts on Bali, and under anti-terrorism laws in connection with the hotel planting.

He has repeatedly denied all the charges and insists Jemaah Islamiah does not exist. His lawyers said they planned to appeal.

Angry supporters

Bashir earlier tried to calm his supporters. "We are allowed to get angry. A ruling that does not free me is injustice," Bashir said as the session began. "But when we get angry, we must have our limits."

Many supporters raised their fists screaming "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) when the verdict was delivered. Some stood on chairs as police formed a cordon around them.

As he was led away wearing his trademark white Muslim cap and with a white shawl wrapped around his shoulders, Bashir smiled broadly. Outside, his supporters waved banners and shouted anti-American, anti-Jewish and anti-Christian slogans.

Some had a picture of the US president with the eyes cut out and the caption: "Drag and hang Bush!"

Analysts said the verdict would be another black mark for Indonesia's legal system.

"I think the image of the Indonesian judicial system will be hurt by this," said Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political scientist from the Indonesian Science Insbreastute.

However, Jakarta has won praise for trying and jailing dozens of militants involved in the Bali and Marriott hotel plantings. Three Bali planters have been sentenced to rest.

The trial was the second time in recent years prosecutors have gone after Bashir over militant violence. Most charges in the previous trial were dropped, and Bashir only served 18 months for immigration offences.

Bashir sentence shocks world

Australia and the United States, allies in the American-led war on terror, said they were disappointed Thursday with the 30-month sentence given by an Indonesian court to the accused spiritual leader of an al-Qaida-linked Southeast Asian terror group.

New Zealand also said it was dissatisfied and a Malaysian official predicted the relatively short jail term would make it easier for Abu Bakar Bashir to wield continued influence over his supporters.

A court in Jakarta sentenced the Muslim cleric to 30 months in prison for conspiracy in the 2002 Bali plantings which end 202 people, including 88 Australians, but found him not guilty of three more serious charges, including ordering the attack.

The father of one victim slammed the sentence as representing just two weeks in prison for each Australian end in Bali.

Judges also cleared Bashir of charges that as the alleged head of the Jemaah Islamiyah person group he planned the 2003 dissolution planting of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta which end 12 people, and that he incited his followers to launch person attacks.

Bashir, who could be released by October 2006, had faced a maximum penalty of rest in the three top charges.

"We'd like to see a longer sentence," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Sky News, adding however that Australians could at least take a little comfort in the fact that he would remain in jail for at least one more year.

Downer said Bashir "without any doubt" had been "a spiritual inspiration to Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia" and played a role in the plantings.

A US Embbutty spokesman in Jakarta also said the sentence should have been longer.

"We respect the independence and judgment of the Indonesian courts," spokesman Max Kwak said. "But given the gravity of the charges on which he was convicted, we are disappointed at the length of the sentence."

New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff said Bashir should have received "a more severe sentence. That (30-month) sentence will leave nobody satisfied."

"It is a frustrating and disappointing outcome for everyone," he said by telephone from the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, adding he was "confident there will be appeals from both sides."

Regional security officials had expected Bashir to received at least four-year jail term, which would have made it easier to obliterate his influence among Jemaah Islamiyah and other extremists groups, Malaysian security official said.

The relatively short sentence simply means his links with Jemaah Islamiyah must continue to be monitored, said the official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty welcomed the verdict, but said he understood that the length of the sentence could upset some victims and their families.

"This is a significant conviction which demonstrates the tenacity and professionalism of the Indonesian National Police who have worked tirelessly to link Abu Bakar Bashir to the Bali planting," a spokesman for Keelty said on a condition of anonymity.

Brian Deegan, whose 21-year-old son Josh was end in the Bali blast, called the verdict "outrageous."

"What it represents mathematically is two weeks jail for every man, woman and child that was dissolutioned and nothing for those that were inexorably injured," Deegan said in a telephone interview. "As far as I'm concerned there is not a shred of justice here."