Marriott bomber gets three years
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The South Jakarta District Court sentenced on Wednesday Malikul Zurkoni to three years in prison for storing the explosives used in the Aug. 5, 2003, Marriott hotel bombing, which left 12 people dead and 147 others injured.
The sentence was much more lenient than the 10 years being sought by prosecutors against Malikul for storing the explosives in his house for six months.
"The defendant has been found guilty in assisting in the bombing. He was not actively involved in making the bomb, but his offense should carry an equally stern punishment for assisting and plotting (the attack)," prosecutor Sandi told the court.
The prosecutor later said that he would appeal the sentence.
Malikul's lawyer, Sutedjo from the Muslim Defense Team, objected to the verdict, saying the judges' decision was based on information from an unreliable witness.
"The verdict was based solely on testimony from Idris, Malikul's preacher. It was not sufficient. If the prosecutor appeals the sentence, we will also appeal," he was quoted as saying by detik.com.
Malikul was found guilty of violating Article 15 of Government Regulation in Lieu of Legislation No. 1/2002, as amended by Law No. 13/2003 on terrorism. The law carries a maximum penalty of death.
Malikul was the fourth person convicted by the South Jakarta District Court in connection with the Marriott bombing. Muhammad Rais received a seven-year sentence for helping the two main suspects in the bombing, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top, obtain, store and transport the explosives used in the attack.
Later on June 15, the court sentenced Slamet Widodo, alias Pepeng, and Lutfi Fadilah, alias Zubair, to three years each for failing to notify the authorities of the planned attack.
The first Marriott bombing defendant to be convicted was Sardona Siliwangi, who was sentenced in February to 10 years in prison by the Bengkulu District Court. He was found guilty of storing the explosives that were later transported to Jakarta for the bombing.