US embassy cable - 05CANBERRA436

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 000436 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, KJUS, KISL, KPAO, ASEC, ID, AS 
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIAN REACTION TO BA'ASYIR VERDICT 
 
REF: JAKARTA 3026 
 
Classified By: POLCOUNS WOO LEE, REASONS 1.4 (B,D) 
 
1. (C/NF) SUMMARY: Australian officials welcomed the March 3 
Indonesian Court decision to convict Abu Bakar Ba'asyir (ABB) 
for his involvement in the Bali bombings, but were 
disappointed by the short 30-month sentence he received.  The 
Australian Ambassador to Jakarta raised GOA concerns over the 
lightness of the sentence to Indonesian authorities and urged 
them to appeal the length of the sentence.  Although the 
sentence was not the result the GOA had hoped for, officials 
noted that the trial did produce ample evidence of Ba'asyir's 
role atop Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and connect him to the 
October 2002 Bali bombings that killed 88 Australians.  The 
GOA has no intention to change its travel warning for 
Indonesia at this time.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C/NF) Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 
(DFAT) Maritime South-East Asia Branch First Assistant 
Secretary Penny Burtt told us on March 4 that the Australian 
 
SIPDIS 
Ambassador to Jakarta, David Ritchie, had raised the lenient 
sentence received by ABB with GOI Counterterrorism 
Coordinator Ansyaad Mbai.  Mbai responded that the GOI would 
have to study the case in more detail to determine whether an 
appeal had any chance of succeeding.  Burtt remarked that the 
GOA's reaction to the verdict and sentence was "absolutely 
identical to that of the U.S." and that the GOA would be 
combing the decision in the coming days to see what "terms of 
judgment" could be useful to the prosecution if it did decide 
to appeal.  She suggested that the defense team would also 
likely appeal the verdict, which in the worst case could see 
the already inadequate sentence reduced or even thrown out. 
 
3. (C/NF) Shortly following the March 3 decision, Australian 
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said publicly that the GOA 
would urge the prosecution to appeal the length of the 
sentence.  While granting that Australia would have to 
respect the judgment of the Indonesian courts, Downer made 
clear that Canberra considered the sentence to be inadequate 
and hoped for a prosecution appeal.  Responding to a media 
query, a spokesman for the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia 
said, "Indonesia has taken note of Australia's comments and 
concern about the verdict, but Australia should respect the 
verdict of the Indonesian court." 
 
4. (C/NF) Burtt concurred with Australian Federal Police 
(AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty's public statement that 
despite the GOA's concern at the length of the sentence the 
Ba'asyir verdict represented a "milestone," because it stated 
he had committed "conspiracy in relation to the Bali 
bombing."  Burtt also felt the trial had provided clear 
evidence of Ba'asyir's links to JI.  She hoped further review 
of the verdict would uncover language concerning Ba'asyir's 
links to JI and the Bali bombings that might be of use in 
future trials of Ba'asyir or other JI members. 
 
5. (C/NF) Both Burtt and Consular Information Section 
Director Dara Williams told Poloff that the GOA did not plan 
to change its travel advisory to Indonesia at this time. 
Williams said that the current travel warning was broad 
enough in stating that "attacks could occur at any time, 
anywhere in Indonesia and could be directed against any 
locations known to be frequented by foreigners."  Burtt added 
that Australian intelligence agencies were not picking up 
enough specific "chatter" to justify adjusting the travel 
advice.  Burtt asked us to keep the GOA abreast of reporting 
on the decision from Jakarta and let DFAT know if we 
anticipated a change to our travel warning. 
 
STANTON