Last suspect Bali blast gets 9 years

Last suspect Bali blast gets 9 years

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The 11-month long trial of the Bali bombing came to an end on
Thursday with the Denpasar District Court handing down a nine
year prison term for Achmad Roichan alias Saad for his role in
the terror attack.

Presiding judge Istiningsih Rahayu said the defendant was
found guilty of breaching Article 13 of the antiterrorism law for
providing assistance to the perpetrator(s) of a terrorist act.

"To be specific, the defendant has provided shelter, harbored
or concealed a known and wanted terrorist, she said.

Achmad, who wore a Muslim tunic and prayer cap, showed no
emotion as the verdict was read.

Prosecutors had demanded 20 years imprisonment for Achmad, the
last defendant to be convicted by the district court. Thirty-
three people have been convicted for their involvement in the
Bali blasts on Oct. 12, 2002, which killed 202 people and injured
hundreds of others. Most fatalities were foreign holidaymakers.

All the defendants were tried here and sentenced, except for
Abu Rusydan, who stood trial at the South Jakarta District Court
and was sentenced to three years and six months in jail.

The panel of judges said on Thursday Achmad allowed Ali Gufron
to stay at his house on Oct. 17, 2002 in the Central Java town of
Surakarta. Ali Gufron, is the alleged regional leader of the
Jamaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda-linked organization blamed for the
bombings.

Gufron alias Mukhlas was on the run at that time.

He was one of the masterminds of the terrorist group that
detonated three bombs at two separate areas on the resort island
of Bali. Two of them exploded in the center of Bali's tourism
area of Kuta.

Istiningsih also said Achmad was found guilty of illegal
possession of ammunition, which carries a maximum sentence of
death under Emergency Law No. 12/1951.

Police officers who arrested Achmad on April 22 2003
confiscated at least 193 bullets of various calibers, including
of ammunition for a M-16 assault rifle. The officers also found
VCDs, books and pamphlets on bomb-making techniques and Jihad.

Responding to the sentence, prosecutors were undecided whether
to appeal to the high court.

"It will take us some time to decide whether to appeal to the
high court," chief prosecutor Banjarnahor said.

Achmad's defense lawyer Miftachul Ichwan took a similar
stance.

Three key players in the bombing, Mukhlas, Amrozi bin
Nurhasyim and Abdul Aziz alias Imam Samudra were sentenced to
death, while the rest received prison terms ranging from three
years to life imprisonment.

The trial at the Denpasar District Court started on May 13
last year and involved at least 28 judges.

Currently, 11 of the convicts are still waiting for the
results of their appeals to the Supreme Court. Previously, the
Bali High Court rejected their appeals.