Hambali sentenced to prison

Hambali sentenced to prison

Suy Se, Agence France-Presse/Phnom Penh

A Cambodian court on Wednesday sentenced Indonesian terror suspect Hambali, in absentia, and five other Muslims to life in prison for plotting a terrorist attack in the country, while freeing one Egyptian suspect, the judge said.

"The court sentenced Hambali, (Malaysian) Ibrahim and (Egyptian) Rousha Yasser to life in prison," presiding judge Ya Sakhorn said, reading his verdict to the court.

The court also sentenced Cambodian Sman Ismael and Thais Abdul Azi Haji Chiming and Muhammad Yalaludin Mading to life in prison, he said.

"Esam Mohamid Khird Ali is free" on lack of evidence, he said the day after conclusion of a one-day trial.

Only four of the seven were present at the court, which was under moderate security and filled mainly with officials and relatives of defendants.

Hambali has been in U.S. custody since his capture in Thailand last year, while Ibrahim and Yasser were also tried in absentia.

They were convicted of attempted premeditated murder with the goal of terrorism in Phnom Penh between 2002 and 2003, the court said.

"Hambali had planned to attack the British embassy in Phnom Penh," the judge said, adding that the others convicted were also involved in the plot.

One of the Egyptians and the two Thais were arrested in May 2003 before a visit to Cambodia by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, as police announced they had smashed a radical Islamic network.

Indonesian police allege Hambali is a key member of the al- Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist network which authorities blame for numerous Indonesian bomb attacks, including the October 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

Hambali reportedly spent several months in Cambodia.

It was only on Tuesday that Cambodian officials announced he would be among the defendants.

Om Yentieng, advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen, hailed the court decision.

"It is successful for Cambodia," he told reporters afterwards. "We only regret the government could not collect enough evidence to sentence Ali."

At the Tuesday trial Ali denied any involvement in terrorism, saying he came to Cambodia to be a teacher.

Kao Soupha, the lawyer for Ali and the two Thai defendants, said his two clients who were found guilty were considering lodging an appeal.

"This sentence is an injustice even though one of my clients is clear of all charges, because the court did not have clear evidence," he said.

The trial had gone ahead after a 10-month suspension.

Five of the defendants were arrested in May 2003 and accused of being part of a JI cell that used an Islamic school here to channel al-Qaeda money from Saudi Arabia.

But their trial in February was aborted amid farcical scenes when the charges against them were switched from one carrying a 20-year maximum penalty to murder, which carries a life sentence.