Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) - An Indonesian court has found the radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir guilty of conspiracy over the 2002 Bali bombings, in which 202 people died. However, he was cleared of involvement in a bomb attack on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003 that attack killed 12 people. Bashir, who was sentenced to two-and-a-half years' jail, had denied the charges and is expected to appeal. The cleric was convicted over the Bali bombings under ordinary criminal legislation, rather than the harsher anti-terror laws, which were only brought in after the 2002 attacks.
At the end of the court case, a statement read out by the five judges said Bashir had not been directly involved in carrying out the Bali blasts, but had given his approval for the attacks. Prosecutors who accused Ba'asyir of inspiring both the Bali and Marriott attacks had pushed for a jail sentence of eight years.
A statement by the court said Ba'asyir was aware of the conspiracy behind the Bali bombings.
"The defendant knew that the perpetrators of the bombing were people who have been trained in bomb-making in Pakistan and Afghanistan...the conditions of evil conspiracy have been met," the statement said.
Bashir addressed the court after his sentence was delivered, saying: "I don't accept this verdict. This is not justice. God protect us from evil and its allies. Please, either open their hearts or destroy them." He reportedly smiled broadly as he was led out of court, while his supporters climbed onto chairs with chants of "God is greatest".
Australia, which lost 88 people in the Bali attacks, said the relatively lenient sentence was "disappointing". A spokesman for the US embassy in Jakarta also expressed disappointment at the length of Bashir's sentence "given the gravity of the charges on which he was convicted".
The cleric has previously been tried on charges of leading the regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) - but was cleared because of a lack of evidence. He was, however, jailed for immigration violations. Police rearrested him in April 2004, as soon as he left prison, citing new evidence linking him to JI. The US has alleged JI has ties to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.