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.