Another two terrorist suspects sentenced

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi

The Makassar District Court on Thursday sentenced Muchtar Daeng Lau, 35, and Hamid Razzaq, 63, to prison terms of seven years and two years respectively for their involvement in the bombings of a McDonald's fast-food outlet and an automotive showroom in December last year.

Hamid Razzaq is the father of Agung Abdul Hamid, the prime suspect in the attack, who remains at large.

Reading out the verdict, presiding judge Jassolo Situmorang said Muchtar was found guilty of concealing information on a terrorist suspect. As a member of Laskar Jundullah group which was led by Agung, Muchtar would have known about the planned bomb attack, the judge said.

"But the defendant (Muchtar) failed to report (the information) to the police. The failure left three people dead, 15 others injured and caused material losses," Situmorang said.

Prosecutors, who charged the defendant under the antiterrorism law, had demanded 10 years in prison for Muchtar.

After hearing the verdict, Muchtar and his lawyer Abraham Samad appealed. The lawyer said that the basis of the verdict was too superficial.

"My client is convicted because he is a member of the group and automatically knew about the planned act of terrorism. If this is the case, then all members of the Laskar Jundullah can be declared suspects," he said.

In a separate courtroom, presiding judge Andi Haedar sentenced Hamid Razzaq to two years in prison, three years lower than demanded by the prosecutors.

In their verdict, the panel of judges said that the defendant was guilty of concealing information relating to the whereabouts of explosives, potassium and TNT, stored by Agung at his house in the regency of Barru in South Sulawesi.

The defendant, the judges said, did not report the information to the police, an offense under the antiterrorism law.

Andi Haedar recalled that Agung had visited his father Hamid and brother Imal Hamid in 2001 and informed them that he had been storing explosives.

Responding to the verdict, Hamid's lawyer Adnan Buyung Azis appealed because the antiterrorism law only came into effect in 2002, while Hamid received the information about the explosives in 2001.

"The antiterrorism law does not recognize retroactivity. The legal basis of the sentence is not valid," the lawyer said.