New Zealand has formally asked the Indonesian government whether it intends to appeal the lenient 30-month sentence handed down to spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir after he was convicted of conspiracy over the Bali bombings, Foreign Minister Phil Goff told parliament on Tuesday. But Goff stressed that it was making no demands on the issue, adding: "I am mindful of the fact that to demand such a thing, and for the Indonesian government to be seen to be responding to a foreign government's demand, would be totally counterproductive to what we are all trying to achieve against terrorism in Indonesia." Goff was replying to a question from one of his own backbenchers designed to embarrass opposition leader Don Brash, of the conservative National Party, who called on the government to withdraw its ambassador to Jakarta in protest at the sentence. The government had already pointed out that Brash's demand defied diplomatic protocol in that no government could be held responsible for a ruling by its own independent judiciary. In his reply, Goff praised the Jakarta government, saying: "Indonesia's track record in bringing Bali bombers to justice has in fact been extraordinarily good, and that the inability of prosecutors and the justice system to make serious charges against Ba'asyir stick is separate from the decision-making process of the executive." --more 1216 Local Time 0916 GMT
