Embassy bomber sentenced to three-and-half years
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Makassar
The first suspect to face charges in the 2004 bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta received three-and-a-half years in prison on Thursday, while prosecutors sought the death sentence for the alleged mastermind of the 2002 attack on a McDonald's outlet in South Sulawesi.
The South Jakarta District Court convicted Irun Hidayat of assisting the perpetrators of the embassy blast that killed 11 people, including one suicide bomber, but cleared him of the more serious charge of planning the attack.
Dozens of Irun supporters who packed the courtroom shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) when the five-judge panel read out their verdict and before the trial started.
Chief judge Yohannes Binti was quoted by AFP as saying that Irun was found "legally and convincingly" guilty of being an accessory to the September 2004 attack.
Prosecutors had recommended a five-year prison term for the convicted defendant.
The judges said the most serious charge against Irun -- helping plan the attack -- could not be proven. If found guilty of that, he could have been sentenced to death.
Yohannes said the evidence showed that Irun provided a house for the alleged masterminds of the embassy attack, Malaysians Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top, to hide in after the blast.
The judges also said Irun delivered a letter from the suicide bomber to his wife.
They also found him guilty of lending cash to another alleged bomber, Iwan Darmawan Mutho, alias Rois, who is being tried separately.
Irun, who has admitted giving the cash to Rois on account of their long friendship, rejected the verdict and said he would appeal.
"I believe I am innocent and I still believe that I have been falsely arrested by police," the 38-year-old Muslim preacher said after the hearing.
He was quoted by AP as saying that "with global politics the way they are now, it is difficult for people like me who have been dubbed terrorists" to get a fair trial.
Police are preparing charges against five other people arrested for the embassy blast.
Separately, prosecutors demanded the death sentence on Thursday for Agung Abdul Hamid, 38, who is charged with masterminding the McDonald's restaurant bombing on Dec. 5, 2002, in Makassar, South Sulawesi, that left three people dead.
He is the first suspect in the case who could face the death penalty if found guilty by the Makassar District Court.
"Based on statements by witnesses and evidence uncovered in the trial, the defendant is guilty of committing a terrorist act, and of controlling, storing and possessing firearms, ammunition or explosive devices," chief prosecutor Andi Muhammad Taufik told the court.
He said Agung, alias Yakob, alias Arifin, planned and mobilized others to carry out the attack on the McDonald's outlet and a car dealership belonging to Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Responding to the sentencing demand, Agung smiled and said, "Alhamdulillah" (Praise be to God), while describing the trial as a "sham".
He rejected all the charges against him. "I am innocent and the trial has been engineered."
The trial was adjourned until Aug. 1 at which time the court will hear from the defense.
The Makassar court has convicted 17 people over the attack, sentencing them to between two years and 20 years. The bombing came less than two months after bombings at nightclubs in Bali killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
Many of those found guilty were alleged to have also taken part in the conflict between Muslims and Christians in Central Sulawesi in 2000.
The attacks in Makassar and on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta have been linked to Jamaah Islamiyah. The two fugitive Malaysians -- Azahari and Noordin -- are key members of the group.
Police have also blamed Azahari and Noordin for the Bali bombings and the 2003 attack on Jakarta's Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people.