Embassy bombers' death penalty upheld
Embassy bombers' death penalty upheld
Agence France-Presse, Jakarta
The Jakarta High Court has rejected appeals by two militants against their death sentences for their roles in last year's bombing of the Australian Embassy, court documents show.
The court said on Monday it upheld the death sentences handed to Achmad Hasan and Iwan Darmawan Mutho, alias Rois, for the September 2004 van bombing, in which 11 Indonesians were killed, including the suicide bomber.
"The panel of judges at the Jakarta High Court supports the decision by the South Jakarta court for Iwan Darmawan Mutho, alias Rois, of a death sentence," said the appeal court documents shown to AFP.
The court also upheld the death sentence for Achmad in its decision sent to the district court last week.
The judges said they backed the district court's verdicts because both Rois and Achmad were "guilty of carrying out acts of terrorism" and also "intentionally gave assistance to perpetrators of terror."
Rois was convicted in September this year after he told police that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had funded the embassy bombing.
The judges found Rois had played key roles, including recruiting the suicide bomber and preparing safe houses for two fugitive Malaysians, Noordin Moh. Top and Azahari bin Husin. Achmad was also accused of assisting Azahari and Noordin.
Rois and Achmad are the first Indonesians sentenced to death for terrorism since three other Indonesian militants were sentenced to death for the Bali nightclub bombings, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians in December 2002.
The two are eligible to lodge another appeal with the Supreme Court but none of their lawyers was immediately available for comment.
Azahari and Noordin are accused of leading roles in several attacks including the Bali bombings and the Jakarta Marriott hotel bombing in 2003, which killed 12 people.
Azahari was killed in a raid in East Java last month while Noordin remains at large.
Those attacks are blamed by authorities on the Jamaah Islamiyah regional terror network, in which both men were believed to be top operatives.