Prosecutors seek four-year jail for top terror suspect's wife

Prosecutors seek four-year jail for top terror suspect's wife

Prosecutors on Thursday recommended a four-year jail sentence for the wife of Noordin Mohd. Top, an alleged leader of the terror group Jamaah Islamiyah and mastermind of several bomb attacks.

Munfiatun, alias Fitri, who appeared in court dressed in a head-to-toe black cover called a chador, was arrested in September on charges of violating the antiterror law by allegedly hiding information about a terror suspect, and of falsifying information on her wedding documents.

In East Java's Bangil District Court, prosecutor Ernawati said Munfiatun confessed she knew Noordin was a most-wanted terrorist, but married the Malaysian citizen because she loved him. She allegedly refused to inform authorities of his whereabouts, as required by law.

Munfiatun, 28, and Noordin married last year in East Java province's capital, Surabaya. They registered their marriage in nearby Pasuruan town, where Noordin used a fake name, Abdurahman Aufi, on the couple's marriage document.

"The defendant Munfiatun alias Fitri is legally proven to have hidden information about a perpetrator of a terror action," Ernawati said.

The court hearing was adjourned until May 23, when Munfiatun and her lawyers are scheduled to submit their defense.

Noordin and another Malaysian, Azahari bin Husin, are wanted over a series on bomb attacks in Indonesia including the Bali blasts that killed 202 people in Oct. 12, 2002; the bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in 2003; and the September 2004 suicide bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.

They are believed to be somewhere in Indonesia. --AP