Thursday, December 21, 2006

Bashir cleared of Bali bombings

INDONESIA'S Supreme Court has overturned a guilty verdict against Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for conspiracy in the deadly 2002 Bali bombings, a court spokesman said today.

Some foreign governments accuse the cleric of having led a regional extremist group and the move is likely to anger countries such as Australia, which lost 88 nationals in the bomb attacks on nightclubs on the Indonesian resort island.

Bashir was released in June after completing a 30-month jail sentence for being part of a conspiracy behind the bombings.

The Supreme Court, in response to an appeal by Bashir challenging the verdict, ruled that the cleric was not guilty of that crime.

"It has been been granted. He was not proven guilty. Of the 30 witnesses presented during his trial, none confirmed that Bashir was involved in the Bali bombings," Supreme Court spokesman Joko Upoyo said.

The Antara state news agency quoted the chief judge on the panel examining the case, German Hoediarto, as saying the court had ordered that Bashir's name be rehabilitated.

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