Bali bombing sentences cut

At least 10 people convicted for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people had their sentences cut yesterday to mark Indonesia's independence day, allowing one of them to walk free from prison.

Australia said victims and their families would be upset by the decision. Most of those killed were foreign tourists, including 88 Australians.

Nine prisoners serving sentences between five and 16 years had their sentences cut by four months, Bali's Kerobokan prison chief Ilham Djaya told reporters.

"They are entitled to remissions because they have behaved well," prison chief Djaya said. Eight of them are in prison in Bali and one in Jakarta.

A three-month remission for Puryanto, another Bali bomb convict jailed in a prison in Balikpapan on Borneo island, allowed him to go free, a prison official, Edi, told Reuters.

Those given remissions yesterday were convicted on charges such as robbery to help fund the Bali attack and giving refuge to key figures.