[JURIST] A lawyer for Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir [BBC News profile], imprisoned for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings [CNN backgrounder], on Thursday protested an Australian official's statements with regard to Bashir's sentence as interfering in Indonesian affairs. Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison [official profile] said Wednesday that Australia opposed any further reduction [transcript of Ellison's remarks] in Bashir's 30-month sentence for conspiracy charges connected with the attacks. The Indonesian government has typically granted annual remissions of prisoners' sentences for good conduct, and Bashir received a remission [JURIST report] in August and could receive another in November. Mohammad Assegaf, one of Bashir's attorneys, said Indonesia had authority to grant the remissions as a sovereign. AFP has more.