Death sentences demanded for bombing suspects
JAKARTA (JP): A prosecutor demanded on Wednesday the death sentence for two former army officers for their suspected involvement in last year's bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building.
Prosecutor Soejitno presented the sentence request during the trial of Irwan, 30, an ex-chief sergeant of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) and Ibrahim Hasan, 31, an ex- second corporal of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), in South Jakarta District Court.
He told the joint tribunal involving civilian and military judges that Irwan was facing a possible death sentence for assembling, delivering and planting the bomb at the JSX building.
Irwan, along with another defendant in the case, Nuryadin, attempted an escape from Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta on July 28. Nuryadin managed to escape, but Irwan was rearrested.
Ibrahim escaped from jail last month and is still at large.
Last week, another prosecutor demanded a life sentence for Nuryadin and a death sentence for the alleged mastermind of the bombing, Tengku Ismuhadi, the owner of Krung Baro auto repair shop in Ciganjur, South Jakarta.
Prosecutor Soejitno told the court, which was presided over by judge Purwono, that both Irwan and Ibrahim had violated Article 1, paragraph 1 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951 for the unlawful possession and use of ammunitions or explosive material.
The prosecutor said Ismuhadi had told Irwan that they had some 30 bars of the explosive RDX (cyclotrimethylene trinitramine), but Irwan asked for more explosives to make the bomb.
Soejitno quoted Irwan as saying that to make a high explosive bomb, it would be better to use 49 bars.
The explosives were purchased by Ibrahim, who, along with the other suspects, assembled the bomb and planted it at the designated target, Soejitno said.
He said Ibrahim bought the explosives from a place in the Cililitan area of East Jakarta and delivered them to Ismuhadi's Krung Baro auto repair shop in the Ciganjur area of South Jakarta.
Ten people were killed and 46 more were injured in the blast at the JSX building on Sept. 13, 2000. The disaster also damaged 174 cars and some parts of the building.
"The defendants' actions created public unrest, ruined national security and the economy, endangered people's lives, and resulted in many fatalites and huge material losses," prosecutor Soejitno said.
He added that the defendants had made conflicting statements, denied the allegations and refused to apologize.
After Wednesday's session of the trial, Irwan told reporters that it was up to the judges to decide whether they would impose a death sentence. However, he denied his involvement in the JSX bombing.
"I leave everything up to God," he remarked calmly.
The trial will be adjourned until next Wednesday to hear the defense arguments.(04)