Christmas bombing suspect gets 15 years in jail

Christmas bombing suspect gets 15 years in jail

BANDUNG (JP): The Bandung District Court sentenced on Monday
Muhammad Iqbal to 15 years imprisonment for his involvement in a
Christmas Eve bomb blast in Bandung last year which killed four
people.

The sentence was far lighter than the life sentence the
prosecutor had demanded.

The 42-year-old Iqbal kept his head down and began to cry when
the verdict was handed down by presiding judge Hazli Saleh. The
defendant's two wives, who were present on the courtroom, also
shed tears upon hearing the verdict.

The judge said Iqbal was guilty of the illegal possession and
use of explosives, a violation of State Emergency Law No. 12/1951
and articles 55, 56 and 186 of the Criminal Code on the illegal
possession and use of weapons.

Four men died in the blast at a welding shop on Jl. Terusan
Jakarta in Bandung on the evening of Dec. 24, 2000. The shop is
believed to have been used to assemble bombs that were meant to
be planted in different locations in Bandung.

The judge said the only mitigating circumstance in the
defendant's favor was that Iqbal had never before been convicted
of a crime.

The judge said there was no doubt that Iqbal was involved in
the use and handling of the explosives.

The court said Iqbal's actions caused the loss of four lives,
and that the bomb blast created a public disturbance as well as
creating a possible conflict between religious groups. Iqbal also
once escaped police detention.

Iqbal's lawyer Armanto Ahza said he would appeal the verdict.

Two other suspects in the case, Roni Miliar and Agus
Kurniawan, were sentenced to nine years of imprisonment each.
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