An Indonesian court sentenced an Islamic militant to eight years in jail Monday for providing shelter to one of the leaders of the feared Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah. Presiding Judge Haswandi said Arif Syaifudin also helped Abu Dujana transfer up to US$1,100 (€700) to militants in the Philippines on at least eight occasions. The money was apparently intended for terrorist activities in that country's restive south, he said.Jemaah Islamiyah and its allies are accused of carrying out a string of suicide bombings in Indonesia, including 2002 attacks on Bali island, 2003 and 2004 strikes on the J.W. Marriott Hotel and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, and 2005 suicide bombings on three Bali restaurants. More than 240 people were killed in those attacks, many of them foreign tourists.
Dujana, the group's military commander, was not linked to any of those bombings. But he was sentenced earlier this month to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, harboring fugitives and stockpiling illegal arms.
In handing down Monday's eight-year sentence, Judge Haswandi, who goes by a single name, told the South Jakarta District Court that Syaifudin failed to report Dujana's whereabouts to authorities. He said the 29-year-old militant also helped Dujana communicate online with Muslim hard-liners in Indonesia and abroad.