Two Istiqlal bombers get 3-year jail term

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)