Palu court jails five terror suspects for up to six years

Irvan NR, The Jakarta Post, Central Sulawesi

The Palu District Court in Central Sulawesi sentenced on Monday five suspected members of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) to up to six years in jail for their roles in terrorism.

Nizam Khaleb, Fauzan Arif and Fadjri, known as key local JI members, were jailed for six years, while their accomplice, Firmansyah, received five years in prison and A'an Hasanudin three years.

The court said that Nizam and Fauzan had been proved guilty beyond all reasonable doubt of controlling and concealing automatic weapons.

The two suspects were arrested last year in connection with the finding of two firearms and 6,000 rounds of live ammunition, as well as explosives.

Fadjri had been proved to have financed the operations of the regional JI terror network in Palu, the judges said.

The remaining two defendants -- Firmansyah and A'an -- were jailed for concealing information on the whereabouts of Ahmad Roihan, who had been sought by police for allegedly hiding two of the convicted Bali bombers, Mukhlas and Ali Gufron.

"All (the defendants) have violated Law No. 1/2002 and Government Regulation No. 15/2003 on terrorism," presiding judge I Nyoman Sumanada said.

The courtroom was packed with the family members of the defendants, including their children.

A lawyer for the five convicted suspects, Tajwin Ibrahim, questioned the verdicts as the prosecution had sought nine years imprisonment for all of the defendants.

"It's a decision that contains political motives," Tajwin told reporters.

He said that the court should have acquitted Firmansyah and A'an of all charges as they did not know that Ahmad Roihan was being hunted by police.

The police had never publicly announced that Roihan was being sought, Tajwin argued.

He said the defendants planned to file an appeal against the verdicts.

Meanwhile, prosecutor Eddy Dikdaya said he would also appeal against the verdicts to seek longer jail terms for the defendants.

"Within a week, we will file an appeal," he said.

The prosecutors had requested nine years in prison for each of the five suspects.

The trial of the five defendants was opened on Oct. 2 last year.

JI was blamed for the Oct. 12, 2002, bombings in the resort island of Bali, which killed at least 202 people, the majority of whom were foreigners.

The clandestine terror group has also been held responsible for a McDonald's bombing in Makassar, South Sulawesi, that killed three people, and the Marriott Hotel blast in Jakarta, which claimed at least 16 lives.