Marriott blast plotters gets three years
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.