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
