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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesia: Prosecutors seek death sentence for terror suspects |
| 2009-01-22 |
| (AKI/Jakarta Post) - Terror suspects could face the death sentence for plotting a series of bomb attacks and the murder of Christian figures in Indonesia, a Jakarta court was told on Tuesday. State prosecutors told the South Jakarta District Court that the suspected leader of a Sumatran terror group and four of his colleagues had planned terror attacks at places frequented by foreign tourists, including a cafe in the West Sumatran town of Bukittinggi. "The defendants have convincingly proven to have violated the anti-terrorism law as they were in possession of guns to conduct acts of terrorism and thus are punishable for capital sentence," prosecutor Totok Bambang told the court. The five Indonesians included Abdurahman Taib, alias Musa, who was widely believed to be the group leader. The defendants were among 10 people arrested in Palembang last year and are now standing trial at the South Jakarta Court . Bambang said one of the suspects Ki Agus Muhamad Toni was behind the killing of Christian reverend Dago Simamora in Palembang last year. Dago was shot dead in front of his son. The prosecutors also indicted two other accomplices, Ani Sugandi and Sukarso Abdillah, accused of helping the terror group and both 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 sentences due to the smaller role they played," Bambang said. Indonesian antiterror police arrested the group at a 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 caused Indonesia's worst terror attacks, the Bali bombings in 2002 and the later Bali bomb attack in 2005. Asludin Hatjani, one of the defence lawyers, said that the charges were neither clear nor specific about how the defendants perpetrated 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 said. He also questioned whether 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. |
| Posted by:Fred |