Marriott blast plotters gets three years

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta

The South Jakarta District Court sentenced on Thursday defendant Samhuri to three years in prison for his involvement in planning the Marriott bombing on Aug. 5, 2003, in which 12 people were killed and 147 others injured.

The court found the defendant guilty of violating Articles 11 and 13 of Government Regulation in lieu of Law No. 1/2002 -- as amended by Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism -- for assisting in an act of terrorism. The law carries a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment.

"The court finds the defendant guilty of the prosecutor's subsidiary charges against him -- for attending several meetings in Surakarta, Semarang and Bogor, which were held by Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) to determine the location of the bombing and to form its executing team," presiding judge Sudaryatno said in his verdict.

The court did not find the defendant guilty of direct involvement in the bombing itself.

Prosecutor Agus Widodo said he would appeal the verdict as the sentence was more lenient than the seven years in prison demanded.

The defendant's lawyer, Yulia Ester, said her client would consider the verdict first, but, after the trial, suggested that Samhuri would likely accept it. In fact, he would only be imprisoned for two more years as he had already been detained for one.

The verdict is the sixth related to the Marriot bombing to be handed down. Last week, Suprapto, Mohammad Solihin and Heru Setyanto were sentenced to seven years imprisonment each for storing and transporting explosives used in the bombing.

In June, Malikul Zurkoni was sentenced to three years in prison, also for storing explosives. While Slamet Widodo and Lutfi Fadilah were both sentenced to three years in prison, for failing to notify the authorities of the planned attack.

In May, Muhammad Rais was sentenced to seven years in prison for assisting the two main suspects in the bombing -- Azahari and Noordin M. Top -- to obtain, store and transport explosives.

In a separate trial, the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office sought a 10-year prison sentence for defendant Edi Suprapto for allegedly planning and assisting in the Marriott bombing.

The crimes violate Articles 7 and 14 of the antiterrorism act, which carries the maximum penalty of death.

Prosecutor Sriyati Anjaya said that testimonies and evidence showed the defendant had attended several JI meetings to plan the attack, and had also harbored Malaysian JI member Samsul Bahri alias Farhan.

"The defendant further violated Article 266(1) of the Criminal Code by forging the identification cards that were used by Samsul," she said.

Presiding judge Caroko Imam Widodo adjourned the trial until July 16, to hear the plea of the defense.