Lawyers say Jabar not bombing mastermind
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak The Jakarta Post Jakarta
Defense lawyers for Abdul Jabar, the alleged bomber of the Philippine ambassador's residence and two churches in Jakarta in 2000, argued that none of the evidence presented by the prosecution proved the defendant's involvement in masterminding the bombings.
"The prosecution failed to make clear what was the defendant's role in planning the bombings besides his presence at the locations, which on its own is not enough to prove he was one of the perpetrators of the bombings," lawyer Qadhar Faisal Ruskanda told the Central Jakarta District Court.
The prosecutors had earlier demanded a life sentence for Jabar for violating the 1951 Emergency Law on the illegal possession of explosives as well as his alleged involvement in bomb attacks on the residence of the Philippines ambassador in Central Jakarta on Aug. 1, 2000, and the Koinonia Church, East Jakarta, and the Anglican Church in Central Jakarta on Dec. 24 the same year.
The Aug. 1 blast killed security guard Sofyan Hendrawan and housemaid Suhantin, and injured 21 others, including the then ambassador Leonides T. Caday. Another four people were killed in the Koinonia Church explosion.
Jabar admitted to the court that he was recruited by Hambali to assist Dedy Setiono alias Usman and Fatur Rohman Al-Ghozi alias Saad in finding the address of the envoy, procuring a motorcycle and preparing meals for the two.
Hambali is under the arrest of the United States authorities after being arrested in August in Thailand, while al-Ghozi remains a fugitive after having managed to break out of jail in Manila in July.
Jabar claimed that Hambali had paid him a couple of hundred thousand rupiah (Rp 100,000 is the equivalent of about US$11.76).
"The prosecutors said there were no mitigating factors that should serve to lighten their sentencing recommendation even though the defendant cooperated fully during trial and surrendered to police, not because he was afraid of the law but rather to prove his innocence," Qadhar said.
Jabar surrendered to police in West Nusa Tenggara early this year, two years after being declared a fugitive.
Presiding Judge Pramodana K. Kusumah adjourned the hearing until Oct. 2 to hear the prosecution's closing arguments.