Blast accomplice gets seven-years term<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A judicial panel of the South Jakarta District Court sentenced
\ndefendant Muhammad Rais on Tuesday to seven years imprisonment
\nfor being an accessory in the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in
\nSouth Jakarta on Aug. 5, 2003.<\/p>\n
The sentence appeared light compared to the prosecutor's
\nrecommendation of a 10-year jail term.<\/p>\n
In their verdict, the judges ruled that the 29-year-old Rais
\nwas guilty of helping two main suspects who are still at large,
\nDr. Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top, to gather, store and
\ntransport the explosive materials that caused the explosion.<\/p>\n
The blast ripped through the hotel, killing 12 people and
\ninjuring 147 others. The victims were mostly Indonesians,
\nincluding six drivers, and a Dutch banker.<\/p>\n
\"The defendant has violated Article 15 of Law No.15\/2003 on
\nterrorism by assisting and facilitating the perpetrators of an
\nact of terrorism to commit their crime,\" said presiding judge
\nJohannes Eter Binti.<\/p>\n
The judges also found Rais, who has six aliases, including Edi
\nIndra, guilty of violating Article 55 of the Criminal Code by
\ndeliberately forging official state documents.<\/p>\n
Rais, who was born in Dumai, Riau province, had asked a
\nBengkulu district head to issue him with an identity card under
\nthe name Ryan Arifin to help him elude capture by the police.<\/p>\n
Rais, who went to Islamic schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan,
\nis also on the Malaysian police's wanted list for allegedly being
\na member of Jamaah Islamiyah, a UN-listed terrorist group.<\/p>\n
The court, however, concluded that Rais had not been proven to
\nhave violated the antiterrorism law by organizing acts of terror
\nthat had caused public fear and destruction of vital objects.<\/p>\n
\"His act of introducing Asmar Latin Sani to Azahari and
\nNoordin has not been proven to be direct involvement in the
\nplanning of the Marriott bombing,\" Judge Johannes said. \"In
\naddition, the defendant was already in the custody of the
\nBengkulu police when the blast took place.\"<\/p>\n
Asmar, who was killed when the bomb exploded, was asked by
\nAzahari and Noordin to carry out the blast by driving a rented
\nToyota Kijang van packed with explosives to the front entrance of
\nthe Marriott hotel.<\/p>\n
Upon hearing the verdict, both prosecutor Andi Herman and
\nRais' lawyer Mohammad Toha requested time to consider whether
\nthey would accept the verdict or file an appeal.<\/p>\n
Rais himself was immediately ushered away by guards from the
\nprosecutor's office to the court's detention cells after the
\ntrial, and refused to comment on the verdict apart from saying he
\nwould respect it.<\/p>\n
Rais is the second Marriott bombing suspect to be convicted
\nafter Sardona Siliwangi, who was sentenced in February to 10
\nyears in prison by the Bengkulu District Court. Sardona was found
\nguilty by the court of storing the explosive materials that were
\nlater used to make the bomb.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/blast-accomplice-gets-seven-years-term-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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