Makassar court jails bomb courier for 18 years

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi

The Makassar District Court sentenced a militant to 18 years in jail on Monday for his role in last year's blast at a McDonald's outlet in Makassar, South Sulawesi, which killed three people.

The sentence for Arman, alias Gala, alias Galaxi, 31, was the heaviest jail term passed out so far by the Makassar District Court for defendants in the terror attack on Dec. 5, 2002.

Earlier, the court sentenced 15 other defendants to imprisonment ranging from two years to seven years. One defendant named Kaharuddin Mustafa was acquitted of all charges.

The panel of judges presided over by Jassolo Situmorang said Arman was proven guilty of assisting the terrorist act in Makassar and illegally possessing explosive materials and a firearm.

He was charged with violating Articles 15 and 6 of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1/2003 and Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism and Emergency Law No. 12/1951.

"Therefore, the court finds him guilty and sentences him to 18 years in jail," Situmorang said.

Prosecutors sought 20 years in prison for Arman.

Situmorang said Arman helped bring two homemade bombs from Mapane village in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, on Nov. 29, 2002, at the instruction of the alleged bombing mastermind, Agung Abdul Hamid, who remains at large.

Arman received the two bombs from Anshar Daeng Salam, alias Aco, another key bombing suspect, Situmorang said.

He said one of the bombs was detonated at a car dealership belonging to Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, while another packed in a milk container was not detonated but was thrown into a canal in Pakkukang, Makassar, only a week after the two blasts.

The unexploded bomb was meant to have been detonated at a nearby KFC outlet at the same time as the bombing at the McDonald's outlet, which was carried out by Anshar who was one of the three killed, the presiding judge added.

Situmorang said Arman admitted that the perpetrator, Mirjal, alias Gozy, had to drop the plan to bomb the KFC outlet because "so many police officers were deployed around there".

The court said the convicted bombers had also entrusted a .38 caliber revolver along with 16 rounds of ammunition to Arman.

Due to fears of possible arrest, the defendant later entrusted the handgun to his accomplices, Zainuddin, Zyamsuddin and Zakur, who all lived in Luwu regency, South Sulawesi.

Upon hearing the verdict, Arman said he would appeal. He then turned around and smiled at the packed courtroom and distributed copies of his essay entitled Corrosion of an ukhuwah's (brotherhood) chain.

Separately, the South Sulawesi High Court upheld on Monday a lower court verdict on other defendants in the Makassar bombing, Suryadi and Muhammad Tang, which sentenced them to seven years in prison.

The judges also ordered the defendants to be imprisoned, even though the two planned to file appeals at the Supreme Court.

The McDonald's bombing came less than two months after the Bali attack, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

On Aug. 5, a suspected Jamaah Islamiyah terror cell bombed the U.S.-owned Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, killing 12 and wounding more than 150.