Posted on 03/02/2005 10:17:37 PM PST by Crackingham
The accused leader of an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group was sentenced to 30 months in jail by an Indonesian court on Thursday for conspiracy charges related to the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people, including seven Americans.
Abu Bakar Bashir was cleared of more serious charges that he ordered the bombing, which was aimed at foreign tourists and also killed 88 Australians. He was also cleared of charges related to the 2003 bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 and charges he incited his followers to launch terrorist attacks.
"Neither the defense witnesses nor the prosecutors' witnesses said that the defendant has planned or provoked other people to commit the bombings," the court said in its verdict.
"The perpetrators of the Marriott bombings admitted they did that on their own will," it said. "Therefore the defendant has to be acquitted from primary charges."
Australia and the United States consider Bashir to be the spiritual head of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group. Intelligence officials say the group has cells across Southeast Asia.
The five-judge panel said that Bashir, who has been in jail since April, would get credit for time served and could be freed before the end of 2006.
He should have been sentenced to thirty minutes in prison. That would have been just enough time to hook him up to the chair and switch on the juice.
30 months til dead man walking
Less than 4.5 days per murder.
Disgusting
He gets pork chops for dinner every night, right?
When he gets out, the CIA needs to target him for elimination.
When Bashir gets out of jail, Americans will probably grab him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.