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.