JW Marriott bombing accomplice gets gets 12 years<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta District Court has found defendant Ismail,
\nalias Muhammad Ikhwan alias Agus, guilty of involvement in the JW
\nMarriott Hotel bomb attack on Aug. 5, 2003, and sentenced him to
\n12 years imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Reading out the verdict, presiding judge I Wayan Rena said on
\nThursday that Ismail had violated Article 6 of Government
\nRegulation in Lieu of Law No. 1\/2002 on terrorism.<\/p>\n
\"Together (with the other perpetrators), he intentionally
\ncommitted a crime by using violence, spread fear among the public
\nand claimed lead to the deaths of a number of people,\" the judge
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The sentence was similar to that sought by the prosecution.<\/p>\n
The blast at the five-star hotel, located in the Mega Kuningan
\nbusiness district, South Jakarta, took the lives of 11
\nIndonesians and a Dutch banker, and wounded 147 other people.<\/p>\n
Ismail was also found guilty of being in possession of
\nexplosives in contravention of Article 1 of Emergency Law No.
\n12\/1951. A hand grenade was recovered from him when he was
\ncaptured in Cirebon, West Java.<\/p>\n
The court said that the 24-year-old defendant transported 3.5
\ncardboard boxes of explosives from Lampung to the capital and
\nhelped moved them to rented houses on Jl. Kemuning and Jl. Rawa
\nBambu, both in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
With alleged mastermind Dr. Azahari, Ismail surveyed the
\ntargeted hotel and the Citibank branch in Pondok Indah, South
\nJakarta. He drove Azahari on a motorcycle to the bomb site and
\nwitnessed the blast from the nearby Rajawali building. They later
\nabsconded to Bandung.<\/p>\n
The judges, however, declared Ismail not guilty of the primary
\ncharge of violating Article 14 of the Antiterrorism Law for his
\ninvolvement in the planning of the attack.<\/p>\n
\"The defendant was driven by Noordin M. Top,\" said judge Rena.
\n\"Everything (he did) was by order and he was not allowed to know
\nwhat the preparations were for.\"<\/p>\n
Ismail is the 15th defendant, and the last, in the Marriott
\ncase to be convicted and sentenced. The others were sentenced to
\nbetween three and 10 years.<\/p>\n
The alleged masterminds of the explosion -- Azahari and
\nNoordin -- are still at large, however. The police have blamed
\nthe recent bombing in front of the Australian Embassy on Jl.
\nRasuna Said, Kuningan, on the pair, who are alleged members of
\nthe Jamaah Islamiyah regional terrorist group.<\/p>\n
The court took into consideration that the defendant had
\nadmitted his crimes and showed remorse during the trial.<\/p>\n
Ismail appeared to calm as he listened to the verdict. Like
\nother the defendants, he said his conviction was by man, not by
\nGod.<\/p>\n
He now has seven days to consider whether or not to appeal.<\/p>\n
The first Marriott bombing defendant to be convicted was
\nSardona Siliwangi, who was sentenced in February to 10 years in
\nprison by the Bengkulu District Court. He was found guilty of
\nstoring the explosives that were later transported to Jakarta for
\nthe bombing.<\/p>\n
On June, the South Jakarta District Court sentenced Malikul
\nZurkoni to three years in prison for storing the explosives used
\nin the bombing, Muhammad Rais to seven years for helping Azahari
\nand Noordin to obtain, store and transport the explosives.
\nEarlier in the month, the same court sentenced Slamet Widodo,
\nalias Pepeng, and Lutfi Fadilah, alias Zubair, to three years
\neach for failing to notify the authorities of the planned attack.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jw-marriott-bombing-accomplice-gets-gets-12-years-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}