Bomber of Philippine envoy's home gets 20 years, says he will appeal
Bomber of Philippine envoy's home gets 20 years, says he will appeal
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced on Monday Abdul
Jabar to 20 years in prison for his involvement in the bombing of
the official residence for the Philippines ambassador that killed
two people and injured dozens of others on Aug. 1, 2000.
The sentence was more lenient than the prosecutors' demand of
life imprisonment.
"The defendant has been proven beyond all reasonable doubt to
have possessed and used explosive materials illegally and, with
others, to have launched a bomb attack on the house of the
Philippines ambassador on Jl. Imam Bonjol, Central Jakarta,"
presiding judge Pramodana K. Kusumah told the court.
The judge said that the sentence fitted a crime that had
claimed the lives of innocent people, had spread fear among the
public, and may have disrupted the country's economy.
Together with Dedy Setiono, who had been sentenced to life for
his role in the Atrium Plaza bombing, and Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi,
Jabar was proven to have assisted the detonation of a car bomb
outside the residence of the Philippines ambassador.
Al-Ghozi, who fled a heavily-guarded prison in the Philippines
after being convicted for 17 years on illegal explosives
possession, was killed by the Philippines military in the
southern part of the country on Sunday.
Jabar was assigned to watch the house and to signal to Al-
Ghozi, who held the detonator.
The blast killed security guard Sofyan Hendrawan, housemaid
Suhantin and injured 21 others, including Ambassador Leonides T.
Caday.
Jabar admitted the bombing was to seek revenge for the deaths
of fellow Muslims in the separatist conflict in the southern
Philippines.
The prosecutors related the case to coordinated action
involving Al-Ghozi and Amrozi. The latter was sentenced to death
in August for his role in Bali bombings on October 2002.
Jabar was also actively involved in the planting of explosives
aimed at destroying Koinonia Church, East Jakarta, and the
Anglican church, Central Jakarta, on Dec. 24. Four people were
killed in the Koinonia church explosion.
These formed part of a nationwide, coordinated attack on
churches on Christmas Eve 2000 that killed 19 people.
Prosecutors charged Jabar with violating the 1951 Emergency
Law on illegal possession of explosives and of being actively
involved in continual bomb attacks.
Lawyer Qadar Faisal Ruskandar confirmed after the trial that
the defense team would appeal against the verdict, saying that
the sentence was too severe for a mere assistant to the other two
perpetrators.
"He barely knew that his role would contribute to such a
calamitous incident," he said.
Qadar said that the defendant's good attitude throughout the
trial and his surrender to police in West Nusa Tenggara should
have been considered as mitigating factors in the sentencing.
Prosecutors requested a week within which to respond to the
verdict, which they considered too lenient for a perpetrator of
such a heinous crime.