First suspect in Marriott bombing stands trial<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Sardona Siliwangi, 23, a man linked to the JW Marriott Hotel
\nbombing on Aug. 5 that killed 12 people and injured 147, went on
\ntrial in the Bengkulu District Court on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
This marks the first trial of a suspect in connection with the
\nhotel bombing in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors Soediharjo and Zuhandi, who read out the 12-page
\nindictment, laid multiple charges against Sardona, who hails from
\nBengkulu, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
He is charged under Law No. 15\/2003 on terrorism, the Criminal
\nCode and Emergency law No. 12\/1951 for his alleged role in
\nhelping the bombers store the explosives that were later used in
\nthe Marriott blast.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors told the trial, which was presided over by
\njudge Alzaman Sutopo, that Sardona stored the explosives, which
\nwere contained in six cardboards and which it is alleged belonged
\nto Toni Togar alias Indra Warman, another defendant in the same
\nterror attack.<\/p>\n
Before being brought to Sardona's home, the explosives were
\nkept in the home of another suspect, Suprapto, in Duri, Riau
\nprovince,<\/p>\n
The explosives were later moved on Feb. 9, 2003, to Bengkulu
\nby suspects Dr Azahari, Noordin Mohammad Top, M. Rais and Asmar
\nLatin Sani.<\/p>\n
In Bengkulu, Asmar then brought the explosives to Sardona's
\nhouse. By the end of last February, Sardona had been introduced
\nby Asmar to Azahari and Noordin.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors said Sardona agreed to join Azahari's group,
\nbut later withdrew, saying he had no time to participate in the
\ngroup's activities.<\/p>\n
Azahari and Noordin, both Malaysian citizens, are accused of
\norganizing the Marriott bombing. They are currently being hunted
\nby the National Police. The two managed to escape arrest earlier
\nthis month when police officers raided their rented house in
\nBandung, West Java.<\/p>\n
The police have captured two other alleged accomplices of
\nAzahari -- Thohir and Ismail -- who have also been charged in
\nconnection with the bombing.<\/p>\n
Noordin was said to have invited Sardona to learn how to
\nassemble a bomb, but he refused, arguing that he had no time to
\nlearn about bomb-making.<\/p>\n
On April, 26, Asmar and another bombing suspect, M. Iksan
\nalias Idris, retrieved the explosives from Sardona's home. The
\nexplosives were later used in the bomb that was later detonated
\nat the Marriott Hotel.<\/p>\n
In related development, Jakarta Police said on Wednesday they
\nhad submitted the case file on Mustofa, 42, alleged to be a
\nsenior figure in the regional Jamaah Islamiyah terror network, to
\nthe city prosecutor's office.<\/p>\n
\"We have completed his case file and we took Mustofa and his
\ncase file last Monday to the prosecutors,\" said Adj. Sr. Comr.
\nTito Karnavian, the of the Jakarta Police's security
\ninvestigation unit.<\/p>\n
\"We charged him mainly with illegal possession of ammunition,
\nfirearms and explosives in Semarang (Central Java),\" he said.<\/p>\n
The explosives and ammunition, which included two FN pistols,
\n19,000 bullets, 65 PETNs (high explosive devices), more than
\n1,000 detonators, timers, firing devices, four boxes of TNT, 11
\nrockets for hand-held launchers, and 900 kilograms of potassium
\nchlorate, were seized from a rented house on Jl. Sri Rejeki,
\nSemarang.<\/p>\n
\"Mustofa is the owner,\" Tito said.<\/p>\n
Mustofa alias Pranata Yuda, Abu Tholut and Imron, confessed to
\npolice investigators that he was a former head of JI's Mantiqi
\nThalid, a JI command unit overseeing South Sulawesi, Sabah and
\nthe Southern Philippines.<\/p>\n
JI was blamed for the Marriott blast and the Bali bombings
\nthat killed 202 people on Oct. 12, 2002.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/first-suspect-in-marriott-bombing-stands-trial-1447893297",
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