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terror suspect claimed on Monday that police investigators had forced him to confess to being involved in a foiled attempt to bomb the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta in May.

During a court hearing on Monday, Sigit Indrajit, who is accused of masterminding the plot, told a panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court that he was not even aware of the bomb plot, let alone the mastermind behind it.

'€œMy friend only told me to buy an alarm clock so I did, because in this world, we should not ask too many questions,'€ he testified at the trial of his alleged accomplice, Achmad Taufiq alias Ovhie.

Sigit, a 23-year-old herbal product seller, insisted that he had no idea that the alarm clock was to be used as a detonator for five pipe bombs.

The prosecutors claim that Sigit came up with the plan to bomb the embassy in retaliation for the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Sigit, an Islamic State of Indonesia (NII) member, allegedly hatched the bomb plot in April with the help of NII members Rokhadi, Saiful, Syafi'€™i, Mambo and Ovhie.

The plan was foiled when the police detained Ovhie and Mambo and confiscated the bombs in Jakarta on May 2, a day before the planned attack.

After being on the run, Sigit was finally arrested at Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta on May 22.

The charges leveled against Sigit and his accomplices carry the death penalty.

When presiding judge Soeprapto asked Sigit why he was making a contradictory statement, Sigit answered: '€œI was forced to [make false a statement] by investigators.'€

Also at the trial, Mambo testified on how he assembled the pipe bombs for the attack.

Mambo learned how to make bombs through the Internet and said the pipe bombs were low explosives. '€œThese are low explosives. There is only a small chance [that the bombs would kill],'€ Mambo said.

Mambo said he purchased the bomb ingredients with money donated by a Majelis Taklim (Islamic study group) in Tanah Abang, Jakarta.

'€œI was the deputy leader of the Majelis Taklim and told the members only that the donation would be used to finance an activity,'€ he said, without specifying the amount of the donation.

Mambo said he gained access to the chemicals easily. '€œChemical stores sell the ingredients. To prevent any suspicion, I bought the ingredients in small quantities,'€ he said.

The ingredients included hydrogen peroxide, hexamine, sulfate acid and methanol.

The clashes between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists in the northern Rakhine state, Myanmar, caused outrage in Indonesia.

The foiled bomb attack was not the only retaliatory measure taken against the clashes. On Aug. 4, a small bomb was detonated at a Buddhist temple in West Jakarta, injuring three people.

'€” JP/Yuliasri Perdani