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.