An Indonesian prosecutor sought an eight year jail sentence for hardline cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for allegedly engaging in terrorism acts linked to a series of deadly bombings in recent years.
Prosecutor Salman Maryadi told the south Jakarta district court that evidence clearly showed Bashir was guilty of being involved in acts of terrorism that had led to the endangering or loss of lives.
He urged the judges to declare Bashir as "having been convincingly and legally proven guilty of having, together with others, engaged in the crime of terrorism" to cause widespread fear.
The judges should "hand a punishment to (Bashir) of eight years in jail," Maryadi told the court. He called for the cleric to be placed under detention until the final verdict is announced.
The 66-year-old preacher is on trial for inciting followers to stage the 2002 Bali bombings and a deadly attack on the Jakarta Marriott hotel in 2003, charges for which he could face the death penalty if convicted.
But Maryadi said there was insufficient evidence to back up the primary charge that Bashir and his supporters actually planned the acts of terror or incited others to engage in terrorism.
Bashir appeared calm as some 300 supporters in the courtroom staged a protest upon hearing the proposed jail sentence. He dismissed it as "illogical and caused by pressure from the United States." The cleric has maintained his incarceration was demanded by the United States because he was critical of Washington's policies in the Islamic world.
Bashir, who was cleared in 2003 of leading the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group, was released in April last year shortly after Indonesia's parliamentary polls. He was immediately rearrested by police, who said they had new evidence of terror links.
Prosecutors in their indictment said Bashir, as JI chief, visited a rebel training camp in April 2000 and relayed a "ruling from Osama bin Laden which permitted attacks and killings of Americans and their allies." Bashir has denied making such a visit.
The Bali bombings killed 202 people and the Jakarta Marriott hotel strike left 12 dead. JI has also been blamed for a suicide attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta last September which killed 11.
Prosecutors earlier suffered setbacks as none of the convicted bombers presented as witnesses in the trial had linked Bashir to the attacks.