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Wife who ordered husband's murder gets light sentence
The Denpasar District Court, Bali, on Wednesday sentenced Julaikah Noor Aini, 45, to 12 yearsâ imprisonment for her role in the murder of her Australian husband Robert Kevin Ellis
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T
he Denpasar District Court, Bali, on Wednesday sentenced Julaikah Noor Aini, 45, to 12 years' imprisonment for her role in the murder of her Australian husband Robert Kevin Ellis.
The sentence was more lenient than that demanded by the prosecutors, who sought a 15-year prison term for Julaikah, alias Noor.
'[We] declare the defendant guilty of deliberately committing premeditated murder jointly [and] sentence her to 12 years in prison,' presiding judge Anak Agung Anom Wirakanta said as he read out the verdict at the court on Wednesday.
The judges said that mitigating factors included the defendant's polite behavior during the trial and her expression of regret and promise not to repeat the wrongdoing.
'The defendant openly confessed her wrongdoing and was never sentenced for a crime before,' the panel of judges stated.
Noor's lawyer, Nyoman Wisnu, has yet to decide whether they would appeal or accept the verdict. 'We are still considering,' he said.
The judges gave the defendant seven days to appeal.
'We are extremely disappointed. We expected a sentence of at least 20 years for the brutal, premeditated murder of our father,' said Peter Ellis, the son of Robert Ellis and Noor, who traveled from Australia for the trial along with his elder brother John Ellis.
Two of Robert Ellis' other children from a previous marriage, Kevin and Christina Ellis, were also seen at the trial along with several of the victim's friends who lived in Bali.
Also on Wednesday, two assassins who were paid by Noor to kill her husband, Urbanus Yoh Ghoghi and Yohanes Sairokodu, also received 12-year prison terms.
The same panel of judges stated that the assassins were found guilty of violating Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder. Both decided to accept the verdict and will not appeal. The verdict said that Noor paid five people Rp 150 million (US$11,265) to kill her husband, to whom she was married for 25 years, in October last year.
His body was found in a ditch near a rice field in Abiansemal two days after he was murdered. The 60-year-old victim was a holder of British and Australian nationality and lived in Australia before moving to Indonesia to develop his business.
Apart from the convicted assassins, two housemaids were also arrested for assisting in the murder. The maids and a third assassin were scheduled to hear their respective verdicts on Thursday.
