Defendants 'unaware of bombs'

JAKARTA: Three defendants accused of storing the explosives used to build the car bomb in the Marriott Hotel bombing did not know what the boxes contained, a witness said on Tuesday.

"They were also not informed about where the cartons were taken to later," Muhammad Rais, 29, told the South Jakarta District Court, AFP reported.

Rais was testifying in the case of Suprapto, Solihin, and Heru Setianto. The three are accused of storing the chemicals at the behest of another bomb suspect, Toni Togar, who will be tried separately.

Rais is accused of helping ship the chemicals to the capital and of recruiting the suicide bomber who drove the minivan packed with the bomb to the luxury hotel in South Jakarta last August. The bomb killed at least 12 people.

The trial was adjourned until April 1 to hear more witnesses.

On separate trial in Bengkulu last month, another bomb suspect who faced a similar charge was sentenced to 10 years in prison. -- JP