First JW Marriott bomb suspect goes on trial in Jakarta
First JW Marriott bomb suspect goes on trial in Jakarta
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An Indonesian militant who said he wanted to kill Americans went
on trial for last year's Marriott bombing at the South Jakarta
District Court on Monday and could be sent to the firing squad if
convicted.
Defendant Mohammad Rais, alias Edi Endra, 29, was charged
under Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism for organizing acts of terror
that had caused mass fear and destruction to vital objects.
The Marriott bombing on Aug. 5, 2003, killed 12 people --
mostly Indonesians, including six drivers and a Dutch banker --
and injured 147 others.
"I regret that there were Muslims among the victims. They were
not my targets. My targets were Americans," Rais said after the
hearing was adjourned until Feb. 4 by presiding judge Johanes E.
Binti to hear his defense plea.
"I am ready to be held responsible because I was involved."
When the defendant entered the courtroom, dozens of his
supporters broke into a deafening chant of Allahu Akbar (Allah is
great).
Prosecutors, who took turns reading the 52-page indictment,
said that Rais -- an accomplice of the two most wanted suspects
in the Marriott blast, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd. Top --
introduced Asmar Latin Sani, the Marriott suicide bomber, to the
two Malaysians before they executed the attack.
The defendant asked Asmar to take part in a "jihad mission",
including sacrificing his life "as the Palestinians are doing".
"The defendant, along with Azahari and Noordin, from September
2002 to January 2003, plotted and arranged for other people to
carry out an act of terror," state prosecutor Andi Herman told
the court.
Azahari -- believed to be the master bombmaker for several
attacks attributed to the UN-listed Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist
group -- asked Asmar to prepare a vest with pockets for
explosives to be used for a suicide bombing mission. Asmar died
instantly when the van he drove blew up in the hotel's driveway.
The indictment said that Rais helped Azahari and Noordin
collect explosive material -- three kilograms of TNT and
detonators -- that would be transported to Jakarta to blow up
four possible targets.
Rais was also alleged to have delivered a message from al-
Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar
Ba'ashir in 2001, after he completed his religious training in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ba'ashir is currently serving three
years at the Cipinang penitentiary, East Jakarta, after being
found guilty of immigration offenses and forging documents, but
acquitted of all terror-related charges.
Rais, a graduate of the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in
Ngruki, Central Java, which was co-founded by Ba'ashir, is the
second defendant to be tried in the Marriott bombing case.
The first was Sardona Siliwangi who was tried at the Bengkulu
District Court. Prosecutors have accused him of violating the
antiterrorism law by possessing explosives and called last Friday
for a nine-year prison term for him.
Primary suspects in the bombing, Azahari and Noordin, are
still on the run after they have deftly been able to elude
police attempts to capture them over the last several months.
The two were also alleged to have substantial roles in the
Bali blast on Oct. 12, 2002, which killed 202 people, mostly
foreign holidaymakers.