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.