JAKARTA, Aug 12: Indonesian prosecutors demanded on Tuesday a 15-year jail term for Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader Abu Bakar Bashir, saying they have proved he heads a regional terror group bent on toppling the government.

“The defendant is proven guilty, legally and convincingly,” said prosecutor Hasan Madani.

Witnesses had testified that Bashir is “amir of the Jemaah Islamiyah network which aims to overthrow the government and establish an Islamic state, Mr Madani said.

The Al Qaeda-linked JI is accused of staging last October’s Bali bombings which killed 202 people, last week’s Jakarta hotel blast which killed 11 and a string of other bloody attacks in the region.

Bashir denies JI even exists. In a radio interview he accused the US Central Intelligence Agency of staging the Bali and hotel blasts to discredit Islam.

Mr Madani said Bashir was also guilty of three immigration offences relating to his taking refuge in Malaysia during the Suharto dictatorship in Indonesia.

Judges have not reached a verdict and do not have to follow the sentence recommendation if they find Bashir guilty of treason, which is punishable by a maximum 20 years.—AFP