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Men get 12 years each for terrorism
A Jakarta district court convicted three Islamic militants of terror acts and sentenced them to 12 years each in prison Tuesday
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A Jakarta district court convicted three Islamic militants of terror acts and sentenced them to 12 years each in prison Tuesday.
The three terrorists — Sugiarto alias Sugicheng, Agustiawarman alias Bukhori, and Heri Purwanto alias Abu Hurairoh — were “legally and convincingly” proven guilty of conspiring to carry out acts of terror in Indonesia.
“The defendants had assembled bombs and planned to attack Bedudal Café in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra,” presiding judge Aswan Nurcahyo said to tempointeraktif news portal during their final trial at the South Jakarta District Court.
The judges said the men were given equal sentences because they were all found guilty of involvement in the “evil conspiracy”.
Prosecutors had demanded that the court jail the suspects for 15 years.
The lawyers for the defendants said they would consider whether to appeal against the verdict in one week’s time.
The convicts were part of an alleged 10-member cell of the Jamaah Islamiyah terror network who were rounded up in Palembang, South Sumatra, in July last year by a special police anti-terror detachment.
However, the judges said the trial revealed that the ring leader of this group was Mohammad
Hassan bin Saynudin, alias Fajar Taslim, a Singaporean citizen who is facing the same charges in a separate trial.
“As Fajar Taslim was included in the list of wanted persons, the group chose Taib as its leader to protect him [Fajar],” Aswan said.
It was Fajar who ordered Agustiawarman and Heri Purwanto to carry out field investigations into Bedudal Cafe, he said.
“The order was issued by Fajar through Taib,” Aswan said.
The attack on the backpacker cafe was planned for 2006 but was cancelled because of fears of inflicting Muslim casualties.
The judges also found Heri guilty of playing a role in the murder of Dago Simamora, a Christian teacher, in 2007.
The judges said the aggravating factor for the three men’s sentences was their failure to show remorse for their actions.
Fajar, 36, admitted in court he helped plan a 2001 attack on Changi airport, saying members of his al-Qaida-linked militant network wanted to fly a hijacked Russian Aeroflot into the terminal.
He did not specify why the attack was cancelled.
Prosecutors told the court that the attack was aborted at the last minute because the media had uncovered details of their plot.
