Makassar court jails bomb courier for 18 years<\/p>\n
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi<\/p>\n
The Makassar District Court sentenced a militant to 18 years in
\njail on Monday for his role in last year's blast at a McDonald's
\noutlet in Makassar, South Sulawesi, which killed three people.<\/p>\n
The sentence for Arman, alias Gala, alias Galaxi, 31, was the
\nheaviest jail term passed out so far by the Makassar District
\nCourt for defendants in the terror attack on Dec. 5, 2002.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the court sentenced 15 other defendants to
\nimprisonment ranging from two years to seven years. One defendant
\nnamed Kaharuddin Mustafa was acquitted of all charges.<\/p>\n
The panel of judges presided over by Jassolo Situmorang said
\nArman was proven guilty of assisting the terrorist act in
\nMakassar and illegally possessing explosive materials and a
\nfirearm.<\/p>\n
He was charged with violating Articles 15 and 6 of Government
\nRegulation in Lieu of Law No. 1\/2003 and Law No. 15\/2003 on
\nterrorism and Emergency Law No. 12\/1951.<\/p>\n
"Therefore, the court finds him guilty and sentences him to 18
\nyears in jail," Situmorang said.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors sought 20 years in prison for Arman.<\/p>\n
Situmorang said Arman helped bring two homemade bombs from
\nMapane village in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, on Nov. 29,
\n2002, at the instruction of the alleged bombing mastermind, Agung
\nAbdul Hamid, who remains at large.<\/p>\n
Arman received the two bombs from Anshar Daeng Salam, alias
\nAco, another key bombing suspect, Situmorang said.<\/p>\n
He said one of the bombs was detonated at a car dealership
\nbelonging to Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf
\nKalla, while another packed in a milk container was not detonated
\nbut was thrown into a canal in Pakkukang, Makassar, only a week
\nafter the two blasts.<\/p>\n
The unexploded bomb was meant to have been detonated at a
\nnearby KFC outlet at the same time as the bombing at the
\nMcDonald's outlet, which was carried out by Anshar who was one of
\nthe three killed, the presiding judge added.<\/p>\n
Situmorang said Arman admitted that the perpetrator, Mirjal,
\nalias Gozy, had to drop the plan to bomb the KFC outlet because
\n"so many police officers were deployed around there".<\/p>\n
The court said the convicted bombers had also entrusted a .38
\ncaliber revolver along with 16 rounds of ammunition to Arman.<\/p>\n
Due to fears of possible arrest, the defendant later entrusted
\nthe handgun to his accomplices, Zainuddin, Zyamsuddin and Zakur,
\nwho all lived in Luwu regency, South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Upon hearing the verdict, Arman said he would appeal. He then
\nturned around and smiled at the packed courtroom and distributed
\ncopies of his essay entitled Corrosion of an ukhuwah's
\n(brotherhood) chain.<\/p>\n
Separately, the South Sulawesi High Court upheld on Monday a
\nlower court verdict on other defendants in the Makassar bombing,
\nSuryadi and Muhammad Tang, which sentenced them to seven years in
\nprison.<\/p>\n
The judges also ordered the defendants to be imprisoned, even
\nthough the two planned to file appeals at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
The McDonald's bombing came less than two months after the
\nBali attack, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 5, a suspected Jamaah Islamiyah terror cell bombed the
\nU.S.-owned Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, killing 12 and wounding
\nmore than 150.<\/p>",
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