The court in Indonesia that convicted Abu Bakar Ba'asyir of "conspiracy" in the Bali bombings -- a lesser charge -- and sentenced him to 30 months in jail (he should be out a lot earlier) were just afraid of these people, above, who think of any anti-Ba'asyir noise out of Jakarta as evidence that the Indonesian leadership wants to suck up to George Bush. Convicting him at all seems to have raised the terror risk in that part of the world, so why the judges didn't spring for a longer sentence may be one of those deep systemic mysteries that Indonesia is prone to. Our editor dropped in on Ba'asyir's boarding school last year, for an ill-fated interview.
posted by Michael Scott Moore |
5:23 PM
