Bomb suspect may get 10 years

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Prosecutors sought a sentence of 10 years in prison for defendant Mohammad Ikhsan, alias Jhoni Hendrawan, alias Idris, who is charged with involvement in both the Bali bombings in 2002 and the Marriott bombing last year.

Prosecutor Tubagus Arief Aziz told a hearing on Tuesday at the South Jakarta District Court that Ikhsan had violated Articles 6 and 15 of Government Regulation in lieu of Law No. 1/2002, as amended by Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism, for committing, plotting and assisting an act of terrorism.

The law carries a maximum sentence of death.

The prosecutors also charged the defendant under Article 56 of the Criminal Code with aiding a crime, and Articles 1 and 3 of Law No. 12/1951 on the state of emergency, with illegal possession of explosives.

Aziz pointed out that Ikhsan had attended several meetings between August and September 2002 to plan the Bali bombings, as well as survey possible targets. The defendant, Aziz added, had also detonated a bomb near the U.S. consulate during the Oct. 12, 2002, attack, although it did not claim any lives.

The bombs that rocked two nightclubs at the Kuta beach resort, however, claimed the lives of 202 people -- mostly foreign tourists -- and injured scores of others.

Meanwhile, in the Marriott bombing, Aziz said Ikhsan had helped store and transport the explosives used in the attack from Sumatra to Jakarta.

The bomb that ripped through the JW Marriott Hotel in South Jakarta on Aug. 5, 2003, killed 12 people and injured 147 others.

Presiding judge Asnawati adjourned the hearing until Aug. 10 to hear the case for the defense.

Tuesday's hearing is the first related to the Bali bombings since the Constitutional Court ruled last Friday that Government Regulation in lieu of Legislation No. 2/2002, as amended by Law No. 16/2003 on the retroactive use of the antiterrorism law to cover the Bali bombings, breached the Constitution.