11 years' imprisonment for convict of Christmas eve bomb blast

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): A district court here sentenced 42- year-old Edy Sugiharto to 11 years in jail on Monday for assembling bombs sent to churches on Christmas Eve last year.

The sentence was lighter than the 20-year jail term demanded by chief prosecutor Freddy Siregar.

The court panel of judges, presided over by K. Sianturi, said in their verdict that Edy had been found guilty beyond any doubt of producing and detonating bombs in the North Sumatra' cities of Medan and Pematang Siantar and in Pekanbaru, Riau.

Presiding judge Sianturi said that Edy was guilty of violating Article 1 and Article 55 of the Criminal Law No. 12/1951 for producing and exploding bombs. The bombs assembled by the convict exploded in Medan and Pematang Siantar and Riau's Pekan Baru on Dec. 24, 2000, the judge said.

The judge said the defendant's activities had caused fear among people and endangered human lives. While the mitigating factors, according to him, were that Edi had been polite and cooperative during previous court hearings.

The judge said that Edi received the order to produce the bombs from Polem, alias Eriyanto, the commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for Pasai region in Aceh. Polem has been put on the list of wanted persons.

Edi, according to the judge, had received Rp 28 million from Polem to assemble 14 bombs and to detonate the bombs at the homes of clergymen and churches in the cities.

The judge further said that after several meetings with Polem and his friends between June and Dec. 19, 2000, Edy began producing the bombs on Dec. 20, 2000 and finished assembling them three days later.

Each of the bombs were then put in parcels with Christmas greeting cards bearing the message: "Appealing for God's blessings and a miracle for my mother who is undergoing cervical cancer surgery in Singapore."

Every parcel had a fictive sender's name and address: Kwik Jean Lee/Chandra Wijaya, director of PT Indo Mandiri Perkasa at Jl. Irian Barat No. 5, Medan.

Five parcels were sent to E. L. Imaron Sebayang Mth, a clergyman of a church at Jl. Kasuari Sipinggul-Pinggul, Pematang Siantar. The bombs, which exploded on Christmas Eve, destroyed his house but claimed no victims.

Two bombs which failed to explode were found by Raden Kus Simamora, a Catholic priest, in a church on Jl Hayam Wuruk and at the house of clergyman W. Lody Matondang on Jl. Hasanuddin, all in Medan.

Edy and his lawyer Togatorop rejected the verdict and said they would appeal to a higher court. (42)