Bali nightclub bombing: Bashir gets 30 months in jail

JAKARTA: An Indonesian court sentenced fiery Muslim preacher Abu Bakar Bashir to two-and-a-half years in jail on Thursday after finding him guilty of a “conspiracy” to commit the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.

The United States and Australia – which have both accused Bashir of being the spiritual leader of an Al Qaeda linked militant network called Jemaah Islamiah – quickly expressed disappointment that the sentence was not more severe. A panel of judges said although Bashir had not been directly involved in the Bali blasts, he had in their opinion given approval for the attack, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Hundreds of Bashir’s supporters inside and outside the court reacted with outrage to the verdict. reuters

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