Embassy bomber gets death penalty
Embassy bomber gets death penalty
Agencies, Jakarta
A militant vowed revenge after he was sentenced to death on Tuesday for plotting last year's deadly bombing at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, which the judges said was funded by Osama bin Laden.
Iwan Darmawan Mutho, alias Rois, was convicted of terrorism and hiding the perpetrators of terrorism, chief judge Rocky Panjaitan told the South Jakarta District Court.
"The panel of judges declare the defendant legally and convincingly guilty of carrying out cumulative acts, from participating in a terrorist crime to intentionally hiding the suspects of terrorist crimes," he said.
Rois is the first Indonesian sentenced to death for terrorism since three other Indonesian militants were ordered to die for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
He said after the trial he was innocent of the attack that killed 12 Indonesians, including a suicide bomber, but said he still welcomed the death sentence and would die a martyr.
As he was led away by armed police and asked if he had any message for Australia, Rois smiled and said: "All of you will receive heavier punishment than what you have done to me." His lawyers said they would appeal the judges' ruling.
"It should be borne in mind that any act of injustice against Muslims anywhere in the world will not go unavenged. Muslims will certainly avenge this," said Rois, wearing a traditional Muslim skullcap.
He said the verdict "comes from Satans and is evil" and maintained his innocence.
Prosecutors accused Rois of working with the accused masterminds of the blast, Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top, who are both fugitives and said by police to be senior members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah network.
Rois, 30, bought the vehicle and other materials used in the bombing and recruited the person who drove the car to the Australian Embassy fence, prosecutors said.
"The operational funds for the bombing came from Noordin M. Top. The money was sent via courier by Osama bin Laden. The total cost was US$10,000," judge Rocky said.
While Rois denied playing a role in the attack, he admitted to receiving an undisclosed sum from a man called Abdul Rasyid before the attack. Prosecutors said this was an alias of Noordin.
Rocky said the prosecutors proved that Rois was guilty of the main charge of "planning to motivate other individuals to carry out the crime of terrorism".
The chief judge also said Rois was guilty of recruiting the suicide bomber, of buying the minivan used in the attack, of conducting surveillance on the target and of preparing safe houses for Noordin and Azahari.
It was the first time the court had linked the embassy bombing to Osama bin Laden.
Rocky said the attack was in response to Australia's support for American policies in the Muslim world.
Rois, who received military training in the Philippines and in Indonesia's restive island of Maluku between 1999 and 2001, showed no remorse for the attack, the judge said.
The verdict was welcomed by Australia after outrage greeted sentence reductions given under a remission program to two-thirds of the 30 militants convicted over the Bali nightclub bombings.
"The court has delivered the most severe sentence possible for the bomber's terrible crime. The conviction underlines Indonesia's determination to prosecute to the full extent of the law those involved directly or indirectly in terrorism," said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who is visiting Europe.
In late August, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for tighter security in the world's most populous Muslim nation, saying September and October appeared to be favored months for attacks.
However, there was no unusual security at the South Jakarta court where Rois' verdict was being delivered.
Three militants have already been jailed over the attack while others are undergoing separate trials.
Judges were to rule on Wednesday on whether one of those accused, Achmad Hasan, should also receive the death penalty.