An Indonesian court has jailed a Muslim cleric for four years for treason, but said the prosecution had failed to prove he led the Jemaah Islamiah network blamed for bombings in Southeast Asia.
The prosecution had demanded a 15-year sentence for Abu Bakar Bashir. The case was widely seen as a test of the willingness of the world's most populous Muslim nation to crack down on radical Islam.
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A supporter of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashiro
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Risk and political analysts described the sentence as light and one predicted it would make the United States think twice before handing over suspected Jemaah Islamiah operational commander Hambali for trial in Indonesia.
Bashir, a 65-year-old preacher and educator who has repeatedly rejected all charges against him, said he would appeal and urged his supporters to remain calm.
"I cannot accept this, therefore I will appeal," he said soon after sentencing, his voice rising.
The panel of five judges, relying heavily on his association with key members of the militant Jemaah Islamiah group, convicted Bashir of participating in acts of treason.
But judges rejected a central part of the prosecution case when they ruled he had not necessarily led the group or plotted to topple Indonesia's secular government.
Officials link Jemaah Islamiah with al-Qaeda. Investigators have also linked the group to last October's Bali bomb blast, which killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists, and a car bomb attack on a Jakarta hotel that killed 12 people on August 5th.