Malaysian embassy assailant gets 21 years jail term

Malaysian embassy assailant gets 21 years jail term

JAKARTA (JP): A 35-year-old man was sentenced on Wednesday to
21 years and four months in jail for hurling a grenade into the
Malaysian Embassy compound and illegal possession of a grenade.

Iwan Setiawan, a small-scale entrepreneur, was tried in two
separate trials on different charges.

In the first case, he was found guilty of throwing the grenade
into the embassy compound in August last year and was sentenced
to 15 years in jail.

In the second case, he was sentenced to six years and four
months in jail for illegal possession of a grenade, which was
found on him when he was arrested by police last September in
Cilandak, South Jakarta.

Two other defendants, Saifan Nurdin and M. Mudin, were also
tried in connection with the grenade attack on the Malaysian
Embassy. They received a sentence of 12 years and six months in
jail each.

Iwan sat with his head bowed when presiding judge Sofyan Royan
read out the verdict in his first case.

Iwan, in his plea, denied any wrongdoing and said all the
charges made against him were fabricated by the police.

He also retracted his statements in his affidavit, saying the
police had intimidated him into saying them.

A grenade was thrown at the parking lot of the Malaysian
Embassy last year, causing minor damage.

There were no casualties in the incident.

The sentences handed down to the three defendants were lighter
than demanded by the prosecutors.

In a trial in June, the prosecutor demanded a 17-year jail
term for Iwan and a 14-year jail term each for Nurdin and Mudin.

Behind bars at the South Jakarta District Court, Mudin
regretted the sentence.

"I didn't commit the crimes I have been charged with. I was
merely a rental car driver who knew nothing about the incident,"
he told The Jakarta Post.

One of the defendants' lawyers, Heppi Sebayang, from the
Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said the
defendants would appeal to a higher court. (06)