Remorse helps Bali bomber avade death sentence

Wahyoe Boediwardhana and I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The remorse shown by key Bali bombing suspect Ali Imron earned dividends on Thursday, as the Denpasar District Court sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The sentence, however, was heavier than the penalty sought by prosecutors, who had demanded 20 years in jail for Imron, the third main Bali bombing suspect to have been sentenced.

The first two defendants, Amrozi and Abdul Aziz, alias Imam Samudra, were sentenced to death, while the fourth main suspect, Ali Gufron, alias Mukhlas, faces the prospect of capital punishment.

"We found the defendant legally and convincingly guilty of planning, conspiring and organizing a criminal act of terrorism and therefore we sentence him to life imprisonment," presiding judge Mulyani said in reading out the verdict.

It was the first time in the bombing trial that judges had handed down a sentence that exceeded the prosecutors' demand.

Chief prosecutor IGP Sulaba had asked the judges to exempt Imron from the firing squad, pointing to the fact that he had always been very cooperative in court and had shown remorse and regret over the bombings. Imron had also repeatedly asked for forgiveness from the victims, their families and the people of Bali and Indonesia.

Imron had also openly condemned terrorism and, he said, the violent, misguided interpretation of the Islamic teaching of jihad.

The bomb attacks on two popular nightspots in the popular tourist resort of Kuta almost one year ago killed 202 people, mostly foreigners, and injured hundreds of others.

Despite the mitigating behavior shown by the defendant, the judges were fully aware of the significant role he had played in the attacks, the most deadly act of terror since the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

"We saw that the defendant had played at least five important roles in the bombings," judge Lilik Mulyadi said.

Imron was involved in planning the bombings, acquiring the L300 minivan that was later used as the car bomb, transporting the explosive compounds to Bali, assembling the bombs and placing one of the bombs near the U.S. Consular Agency office in Bali.

"The mitigating factors were overshadowed by the extent and importance of his role in the attacks," Lilik said.

He added that fulfilling the prosecutors' sentence demand would be unfair.

"Let's compare it with Hernianto, who is implicated in the case only because he hosted a meeting held by the suspected bombers," Lilik said.

Hernianto now faces a 20-year jail sentence.

"Would it be fair (for Hernianto) if Ali Imron, who played many vital roles in the bombing, was sentenced to 20 years in prison?" Lilik asked.

He asserted there was no dissenting opinion among the judges in delivering their verdict.

"We unanimously agreed on the verdict, reached after we had considered every significant fact and piece of evidence," he said.

Upon hearing the verdict, Imron turned his increasingly pale face downward, in stark contrast to the characteristic, wide smile and radiant face he displayed every time he entered the courtroom, as he had done earlier in the day.

After consulting his chief lawyer, Suyanto, Imron told the judges he needed time to consider whether to accept or appeal the verdict.

Separately, another member of the Solo Group, Bambang Setiono, alias Saiful, alias Suroso, was sentenced to seven years in prison for "assisting known and wanted terrorists." The sentence was three years fewer than that demanded by the prosecutors.

Bambang Setiono drove the rented car that transported Ali Gufron, Abdul Ghoni and Hernianto from the Central Java town of Wonogiri to neighboring Surakarta. At that time they were looking for a hiding place.

As of Thursday, the court had convicted 11 defendants.

Eighteen defendants are still on trial while three suspects are still being examined by the prosecutor's office and the remaining two are being interrogated by the police.