U

mar Patek cried as prosecutors asked that he be sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly masterminding bomb attacks on churches in Jakarta and nightclubs and Bali a decade ago.

“I apologize, especially to all Christians living in Jakarta. I regret my past actions,” Patek said at the West Jakarta District Court on Monday.

Prosecutors said that Patek, known as the “Demolition Man”, was behind the Christmas Eve bombings of six churches across the capital, including Jakarta Cathedral, in 2000.

Patek also asked for forgiveness from the families of the victims of the first Bali bombing in 2002. Prosecutors alleged that he assembled the car bomb used in the nightclub attack.

“I, along with my wife, also apologize to the government for making passports through illegal ways,” he told reporters, referring to the two forged passports he and his wife allegedly used to travel from Indonesia to Pakistan under false names several years ago.

Patek, a leading member of al-Qaeda affiliate Jamaah Islamiyah, is the last key suspect to be tried in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people and thrust Indonesia into the front line in the fight against international terrorism. Eighty-eight Australians and seven Americans were killed in the terrorist attack.

Bambang Suharyadi, the lead prosecutor in Patek’s trial, told judges at the West Jakarta District Court that Patek was directly involved in the bombings of Paddy’s Pub and Sari Club on Kuta Beach and near the US consulate in Denpasar on Oct. 12, 2002, and in the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings.

Patek was also guilty of smuggling firearms from the Philippines to Indonesia, violating immigration regulations and committing premeditated murder that lead to massive casualties, he added.

The prosecution did not ask for the death penalty, claiming that Patek had been “cooperative” and “remorseful”. Three other men convicted of the Bali bombings — Imam Samudra, Amrozi, and Ali Ghufron — were sentenced to death in 2003 and were executed by a firing squad at Nusakambangan Prison in Cilacap, Central Java, on Nov. 9, 2008.

Amrozi’s brother, Ali Imron, who had also expressed remorse for his part in the bombings, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Patek was wearing his usual uniform of white Islamic garb on Monday’s at the hearing that was presided over by judge Encep Yuliardi. Patek sat in the defendant’s chair with his head hung low as prosecutors read their the sentence demand.

Patek, who was arrested last year in Pakistan, has denied masterminding the Christmas Eve and Bali bombings, alleging that Jamaah Islamiyah bomb-makers Azahari bin Husin and Dulmatin, both of whom have been killed in police raids, were the organizers of the attacks.

He said that he had rejected the plans for the bombings, but that his refusal was never accepted by Dulmatin, whom he saw as his senior.