Seven more bombing suspects tried
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi
Seven more suspects went on trial at the Makassar District Court on Thursday for their alleged involvement in the Dec. 5, 2002 bombings that killed three people and injured 15 others.
The seven suspects named Muchtar Daeng Lau, Suryadi Mas'ud, Lukman bin Husain, Usman Nuraffan, Kaharuddin Mustafa, Hamid Razzaq and Imal Hamid were tried in separate sessions.
Six of the 13 people who were suspected of involvement in the bombings, stood trial earlier on Monday.
Hamid and Imal, the father and brother of key suspect Agung Abdul Hamid who is still at large, were charged with assisting the key suspect to store potassium and TNT at their house and for not reporting it to the relevant authorities.
"The defendants played the role of accomplices in the bombing that killed three people and injured 15 others. The McDonald's fast-food company suffered Rp 1 billion (US$121.950) in financial losses while NV Hadji Kalla car dealership suffered Rp 50 million in financial losses," a government prosecutor told the court.
The charges were similar with the ones handed down by government prosecutors against the six defendants who went on trial on Monday.
They were all indicted for violating Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1/2002 and Law No. 15/2003 on antiterrorism. They will face the death penalty if convicted.
According to the law, any individual or organization who are involved in planning, assembling explosives, detonating explosives or committing terrorist acts may face the death penalty should they be found guilty. All those collaborating with the suspects will face similar charges.
Two other defendants Suryadi Mas'ud and Usman were charged for assembling the explosives along with another suspect Dahlan, who is still at large.
Both defendants rejected the charges.
"The indictments are baseless. They were engineered," said Usman after the court session.
Muchtar Daeng Lau was charged with making sketches of the location based on a survey conducted by another suspect Hizbullah Rasyid, who is also still at large.
Prosecutors said that the seven suspects attended a meeting on Oct. 14, 2002, at Agung's house around two months prior to the bombings but they failed to report on it to the local authorities.
The suspects' lawyers demanded that the seven suspects be moved to Makassar prison instead of the South Sulawesi Police Headquarters detention center.
"We demand that our clients be moved to Makassar prison for easier communication. They have been under pressure psychologically and mentally in police custody," said Nasiruddin Pasigai and Abraham Samad, lawyers for Suryadi and Muchtar respectively.
Presiding judge Andi Haedar turned down the demand.
The court session will be adjourned until Monday to hear the suspects' defense arguments.
The trial, held under tight security, was only attended by he suspects' families.