Members of a terror group could face a death sentence for plotting a series of bomb attacks and murders of Christian figures in the country, a court heard Tuesday.

State prosecutors told a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court the  suspected leader of the South Sumatra city of Palembang-based terror group and four of his cohorts had been proved to have planned strikes at places of interest for foreign tourists, including Café Bedudel in the West Sumatra hilly town of Bukittinggi.

“The defendants have convincingly proven to have violated the Antiterrorism Law as they were in possession of  guns to conduct acts of terrorism and thus are punishable for capital sentence,” Prosecutor Totok Bambang read out the indictment.

The five were Indonesians by the name of Abdurahman Taib alias Musa, who was widely believed to serve as the group leader, Agustiawarman alias Bukhori, Sugiarto alias Sugicheng, Heri Purwanto alias Abu Hurairoh and Ki Agus Muhamad Toni.

The defendants are part of 10 people arrested in Palembang last year and now standing trial at the South Jakarta Court .

Bambang said the investigators had found Ki Agus was behind the  killing Christian reverend Dago Simamora in Palembang last year. Dago was shot dead right in front of his son.

The prosecutors also indicted two other accomplices, Ani Sugandi and Sukarso Abdillah, who are accused of helping the terror group and could face a maximum of 15 years in prison term.

“Sugandi and Abdillah were tasked only to monitor targeted places, so even though they are charged under the same law,  they may face lighter sentence due to the smaller role they played than other defendants ,” Bambang said.

Police antiterror squad arersted the group  at their rented house in Palembang during a crackdown early last year.

The police also discovered a bulk of high explosive materials stored in the house.

According to investigators, the power of the explosives  was equal to those that tore down Bali in 2002 and 2005.

Asludin Hatjani, one of the defense lawyers, said in his respond to the indictment that the charges were neither clear nor specific  about how the defendants perpertrated the acts of terrorism.

“The prosecutors fail to mention specific roles played by our clients here, therefore there is no use for the panel to pay attention to the indictment. We highly expect them to withdraw the indictment,” Hatjani read out the team of lawyers’ response.

Besides, he added, the South Jakarta District Court was not qualified to hear the case, which took place in Palembang. He said the trial should be held in Palembang instead.

The panel of judges adjourned the hearing until Tuesday next week.

Indonesia has not seen any terror attack since the death of Malaysian bomb maker Azhari bin Husin during a raid in November 2005. His partner Noordin Moh. Top has remained at large.

Last November the government executed three Bali bombers, Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron, the first terrorists to have been sentenced to death.

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