McDonald's bomber gets life sentence in Makassar

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

A Muslim militant was sentenced to life on Monday for masterminding the bombing of a U.S. fast-food restaurant outlet here in 2002, which killed three people.

The panel of judges found Muhammad Agung Hamid guilty of planning and coordinating the attacks on a McDonald's outlet and NV Haji Kalla car showroom on the eve of Idul Fitri on Dec. 5, 2002.

Prosecutors had demanded the death sentence for the 38-year- old militant, who was apprehended in Yogyakarta in October last year after 22 months on the run.

Agung is the last of 22 people sentenced by the same court over the bomb attacks, the first case heard by an Indonesian court under the 2002 Antiterrorism Law. Other suspects received between two years and life imprisonment, while one suspect was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The group had also planned to detonate another bomb at a KFC outlet but the plan never materialized.

The attacks came less than two months after huge bomb blasts rocked the resort island of Bali, killing 202 people. mostly foreign holidaymakers.

Police have said some of those involved in the Makassar bombings were associated with the militants involved in the Bali blasts.

Agung was also convicted of illegal possession of explosives, arms and ammunition, a crime which carries a maximum penalty of death under the 1951 Emergency Law. When arrested, police seized from him a Smith and Wesson caliber 38 and 16 live bullets.

"Based on evidence and facts revealed during the trial, defendant Muhammad Agung Hamid is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of perpetrating acts of terrorism and illegal possession of explosives, arms and ammunition, for which he is sentenced to life in prison," presiding judge Andi Haedar said.

In their verdict, the judges also said that Agung would remain under detention, although under the Indonesian legal system only a Supreme Court ruling is legally binding.

The attacks were believed to have been linked to a peace agreement that marked an end to a bloody sectarian conflict in Central Sulawesi, which was brokered by then chief welfare minister Jusuf Kalla, whose family owns the automotive showroom.

Kalla is now the Vice President.

The attacks killed a McDonald's customer, security guard and one of the bombers, and injured another 15 people.

No lawyer accompanied Agung during the hearing. The defendant, who wore blue Muslim attire, looked calm when the judges read out the verdict.

But he reacted angrily to the verdict when the trial was over.

"I resist all the charges. I will challenge the verdict, which for me is a work of a foreign party," he said, referring to the United States.

"I will keep fighting for the sake of sharia."