Ex-councillor jailed for firecrackers

Ex-councillor jailed for firecrackers

TEGAL, Central Java: Former chief legislator of the local administration Kosasih, who co-owned a firecracker firm with Edi Sukamto, has been sentenced to 3.5 years in jail and for last September's deadly blast that killed 22 people at the company's factory. Edi received a 5-year sentence.

The convictions against the owners of PT Cahaya Pelangi Abadi were handed down last week by the Tegal District Court.

Edi said on Tuesday that he and Kosasih would appeal the verdicts to a local higher court, while adding that the sentences were too heavy.

The defendants argued that the court issued the verdicts without considering "positive aspects", in which the firecracker company was taking care of its workers' welfare.

"We want to seek true justice, so because of that we'll appeal," Sukamto said.

Prosecutors had previously asked the court for 10 years in jail for Sukamto and seven for Kosasih, but the judge reduced those by half.

The defendants were charged with reckless endangerment at the factory, where nearly half of the workers were killed. --Antara