Hambali's brother gets four years for role in Marriott bombing

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A brother of the regional terrorist suspect Riduan Isamudin alias Hambali was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday for helping fund the J.W. Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta last year.

Judge Abdullah Sidiq of the Central Jakarta District Court declared Rusman "Gun Gun" Gunawan guilty of channeling US$50,000 to his brother Hambali, currently detained by the United States at an undisclosed location.

The money went through several hands until it reached Malaysian fugitives Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top, who allegedly used the funds for renting a house, buying explosives, a motorcycle and a van that was later used to bomb the hotel.

The judges, however, cleared Gun Gun of the first charge that he was directly and intentionally involved in the Aug. 5, 2003 blast, which killed at least 12 people.

Gun Gun's sentence would be reduced by the 10 months he has spent in detention.

Separately, lawyer Ahmad Kholid said his client knew nothing and had nothing to do with the money. "He was only asked (by Hambali) to ask about the money. He did not even know what the money was for," he said.

Ahmad said his client would likely appeal the verdict.

Prosecutor Payaman, who had proposed an eight-year prison term, said they would still consider whether or not to appeal.

In a separate trial, Gun Gun's friend, Husni Rijal alias Ilham Sopandi, was sent to prison for 15 months for falsifying information on documents to obtain a passport to travel to Pakistan.

Instead of using his real name, Husni used the name Ilham Sopandi on his birth certificate, family card and identity card.

Prosecutor Payaman had earlier sought a two-year sentence.

Gun Gun and Husni were arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, in September 2003, along with five other Indonesian students, 13 Malaysian and two Myanmarese, as Pakistani authorities grew suspicious that they might be linked to terrorist activities.

Gun Gun and Husni are members of al-Ghuraba, a study group of Indonesian and Malaysian students in Karachi, Pakistan.

Gun Gun was one of the group's founder. Al-Ghuraba's main purpose was to train its members to be militants.

The group avows that their members are militants tasked to protect Islam from its enemies -- Jews, Communists and the United States -- in any way, including suicide bombing.

They recruited members to join a military camp at the al-Faruq Camp in Afghanistan. Recruits were taught to use firearms including the AK-47, M-16, UZI and Makarov pistols.

They were also trained in undercover work, wall climbing, topography, as well as making explosives.

Gun Gun's brother, Hambali, was believed to be al-Qaeda's link in Southeast Asia. He was arrested in Thailand in August last year and has been in U.S. custody ever since at an undisclosed location.