Terror suspect may get 5-year sentence
Terror suspect may get 5-year sentence
Agencies, Jakarta
Prosecutors at the South Jakarta District Court demanded on
Thursday a five-year jail sentence for a suspect involved in last
year's Australian Embassy bombing.
Prosecutors accused Irun Hidayat of aiding key suspects in
carrying out the September 2004 bomb attack, in which 11 people
were killed including the suicide bomber, and over 200 others
injured.
Irun, however, was not involved in planning the terror attack,
prosecutors said.
Prosecutor Riski Fahrudi said that Irun was guilty of helping
find a house for the alleged masterminds of the bombing,
Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top, who remain at
large. The two fugitives are seen as the top leaders of Jamaah
Islamiyah, a regional terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda.
Irun had also allegedly provided Azahari and Noordin in August
2004 with Rp 1 million (around US$104) cash, cellular phones and
a sim card.
Irun admitted to the court that he loaned cash to a man who
allegedly recruited the suicide bomber, but denied knowledge of
the two Malaysians.
"This is all because I'm a friend of Rois'. I had business
only with Rois. I never knew who Azahari or Noordin Mohammad Top
were," he said.
Outside the court, Irun expressed his anger, saying that he
felt like punching the prosecutors.
"How would you feel if you were innocent and being charged
with that harsh punishment?" he said behind bars.
Along with his team of lawyers from the Muslim Lawyer Team
(TPM), Irun asked the judges for 10 days to prepare the plea, but
the judges only gave one week.
Azahari and Noordin have played key roles in the October 2002
Bali bombings, in which 202 people died, as well as the 2003
bombing at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which claimed 12
lives.
Over 20 people have so far been detained in correlation with
the Australian Embassy bombing.
Meanwhile, National Police spokesperson Aryanto Anang
Budihardjo announced on Thursday that two more militants among 17
arrested in raids last week had been declared terrorist suspects,
bringing the total number of suspects to 13, some of whom were
allegedly involved in the Australian Embassy bombing.
Eleven others are already facing charges under antiterrorism
laws that carry the maximum death penalty, while four other men
have been released due to lack of evidence.
"They have roles in moving fugitive Noordin M. Top from one
place to another," Aryanto said about the two militants, AL and
AS.
Two of the 13 suspects were involved in the murder in May last
year of a Christian prosecutor who helped try terrorism cases on
Sulawesi island, which has been hit by Muslim-Christian unrest.
Seven others were allegedly involved in hiding or withholding
information about terrorists, preparing explosives, financing
terrorism and taking part in acts of terrorism.