Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Jakarta bomber sentenced to death

An Indonesian court has sentenced to death a key suspect in the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

Iwan Darmawan, also known as Rois, was found guilty of buying the van and other materials used in the attack, as well as recruiting its driver.

Rois, who denied the charges, called the judgement "stupid".

The attack, which killed 11 people including a suicide bomber, has been blamed on regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

JI is alleged to have links to al-Qaeda, which the prosecution said had supplied funds for the attack.

Rois stood and waved his fist after the verdict was announced.

"I am thankful for being sentenced to death. I am happy because I will die a martyr," he told reporters.

'Revenge attack'

The chief judge, Rocky Panjaitan, said Rois had been found "legally and convincingly guilty" of terrorism and hiding the perpetrators of terrorism.

The judge said Rois had visited the Australian embassy three times before the bombing.

The judge quoted police statements that the funding for the attack came from Osama bin Laden and was carried out to "avenge the slaughter of Muslims by America and its allies in Iraq".

Rois said he would appeal against the verdict, the first death penalty to be handed down in connection with the case.

Three other men have so far been jailed for their roles in the embassy bombing, for terms of between seven years and 42 months.

Two men suspected of masterminding the attack - Malaysians Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammed Top - remain at large.

Taken from BBC News

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