Two Istiqlal bombers get 3-year jail term

JAKARTA (JP): A judge at the Central Jakarta District Court has sentenced Uci Sanusi and Nurly, alias Rully, to three years in jail for their involvement in the April bombing of the Istiqlal Grand Mosque.

"Both defendants are guilty of possessing, carrying and detonating bombs," presiding judge I Gde Sumitra said in the hearing on Thursday.

Prosecutor Fachruddin demanded in the previous hearing that the court sentence both defendants to three and a half years in jail.

Sumitra said the two defendants had violated article 1 of the 1951 Emergency Law, which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

He said both had admitted their wrongdoings and had acted politely during the course of the prosecution.

"But, still, their actions have brought anxiety to the people," he said.

Sumitra said both defendants were involved in a plan to blow up the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia after the main defendant in the trail, Surya Setiawan, alias Wawan, asked them to do so.

"Both defendants then attended a meeting at Wawan's house in Tangerang on April 15 to discuss the bombing plan," he said.

He said the defendants and other five suspects carried out the bombing on April 19.

"Rully was told by Wawan to activate the bomb on the mosque's ground floor, while the others made their way to their own positions around the mosque at the time of the explosion," Sumitra said.

Uci, 17, was standing guard outside the mosque to prevent people from being suspicious of Rully, 18, who was responsible for detonating the bomb, the judge said.

The explosion severely damaged the wall of the mosque's ground floor, while all the windows in the offices of the Indonesian Ulema Council and the Indonesian Islamic Women's Organization Conference were shattered. Five people were injured following the explosion.

The court sentenced Wawan in a separate hearing last October to 38 months in jail for his key role in the explosion.

Other defendants -- Suradi, Atin, Jamhuri Litamahuputty and Anton -- are being tried at separate hearings.

Sumitra said the police's Forensic Laboratory concluded that the bomb used in the April bombing had a powerful capacity.

Upon hearing the judge's verdict, the defendants' lawyer, Hotlan Sitorus, said his clients were considering filing an appeal to the Jakarta High Court. (asa)