Jakarta, Oct 08: A radical Muslim cleric sentenced to four years in jail for sedition has appealed his verdict to the High Court in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, his attorneys said today. Abu Bakar Bashir's attorney Mohammad Mahendratta said prosecutors had offered no evidence showing his client wanted to overthrow the Indonesian government. Bashir was merely advocating Shariah, or Islamic law, the lawyer said. "Bashir was not involved at all in efforts to either destabilise the government or establish an Islamic state," Mahendratta said. "He was only campaigning for the imposition of Shariah law in Indonesia." Bashir was found guilty last month of sedition, but was declared innocent on charges of leading the Al-Qaeda-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. The group has been blamed for last year's Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, and the August bombing of Jakarta's J W Marriott hotel, which killed 12. Bashir was also found innocent of charges that he ordered a series of church bombings in 2000, and an aborted plan to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Bureau Report