Another defendant jailed for hiding terrorists

Another defendant jailed for hiding terrorists

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The Denpasar District Court jailed shrimp farmer Muhajir on
Monday for four years for harboring wanted suspects in the Bali
bombings.

He is the last defendant out of the first batch of 29 suspects
sentenced for their roles in last year's terrorist attacks.

The trials, which started on May 11, will resume next week,
with four more defendants -- Ahmad Roichan alias Syaad, Syawad
alias Sarjio, Umar Wayan alias Abdul Ghoni and Idris -- appearing
before the court for their alleged roles in mixing the explosives
and assembling the bombs later used in the attacks on Oct. 12,
2002, which killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.

Presiding judge I Putu Widnya said Muhajir had obstructed the
police investigation by withholding information on terror
suspects Ali Imron and Hutomo Pamungkas alias Mubarok and
providing them with a hut where the could hide out while on the
run.

The 43-year-old defendant is the owner of a shrimp farm on the
isolated East Kalimantan island of Berukang, where Imron and
Mubarok were arrested in January.

Both Imron and Hutomo had earlier been handed life sentences.

Although the sentences were less than the seven-year jail
terms sought by the prosecution, Muhajir's defense lawyer Muadz
Masyhadi said the punishment was too severe and stated he would
appeal.

"It is a legally defective verdict as the judges based their
decision on the police interrogation files rather than the facts
and information that were adduced during the trial proceedings.
Therefore, the verdict is not in line with the Criminal Code,"
Muadz said.

Muadz asserted the defendant had no knowledge about Imron and
Mubarok, who were working at his shrimp farm, let alone the
nature of their criminal activities.

Muhajir had told the court he employed Imron and Hutomo only
because his friend Yunus had asked him to do so. Both Imron and
Hutomo introduced themselves to Muhajir as Mulyadi and Mubarok
respectively.

"I only wanted to help Yunus," Muhajir said.

Yunus has already been sentenced to seven years in prison.

"I was set up by Yunus. May I ask the judges to put me in the
same cell as Yunus so that I may avenge myself," Muhajir told the
court during a previous hearing.

Three Bali bombing suspects have been sentenced to death while
others have been jailed for terms ranging from three years to
life.

Meanwhile, the Makassar District Court acquitted Kaharudin
Mustafa of charges of selling explosives and detonators to the
bombers of a McDonald's restaurant in the South Sulawesi capital
last December.

Antara reported that the court ruled there was no evidence
linking Kaharuddin with the blast, which killed three people.

The prosecution had demanded a five-year jail term for
Kaharuddin on charges of selling a detonator to Hisbullah Rasyid,
one of three key suspects in the case, who remains at large.

The judges said none of the witnesses had provided
incriminating testimony against the defendant. One of them,
Dahlan, who is also one of the suspects, denied Kaharuddin was
involved in the attack.

Prosecutor Muldani Fajrin said he would appeal the verdict.

Ten men have received prison sentences ranging from six to 12
years over that attack, which took place while police were still
investigating the Bali bombings. Six more suspects are awaiting
trial.