INDONESIA: Indonesian court finds Anif Solchanuddin guilty for his involvement in 2005 Bali bombings and sentences him to 15 years in jail

An Indonesian court on Thursday (September 14) sentenced an Islamic militant to 15 years in jail for his role in last year's Bali bombings. Anif Solchanuddin was the last of four men on trial in connection to the October bombings to be convicted. Three suicide bombers blew themselves up at three restaurants on the resort island, killing 20 people. Judges at the Denpasar district court found Solchanuddin guilty of delivering bombs to fugitive militant Noordin Top and offering to become a suicide bomber when told of a plan to carry out an attack in Bali. "(The defendant) is proven by law and beyond reasonable doubt to have committed the criminal act of conspiring with others in the act of terrorism and without permit hiding ammunition or explosive materials. The court sentences the defendant, Anif Solchanuddin alias Pendek bin Suyadi, to 15 years in prison," said Daniel Talitin, head of a three-judge panel. Solchanuddin has confessed during his trial that he volunteered to become a suicide bomber but Top picked three other people instead. Solchanuddin told the court he accepted the decision and that he would not take any further legal steps in response to the verdict. Three other militants have been sentenced to between eight and 18 years in jail for their roles in the attacks. Police believe Malaysian-born Top was a mastermind of the bombings. Authorities say Top and fellow Malaysian Azahari Husin were leading figures in the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiah, which has been linked to al-Qaeda. Jemaah Islamiyah is blamed for terror attacks in the region including bombings in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. Azahari was killed last year during a shootout in the East Java town of Batu.

ITN Source | September 15, 2006

Tags:. .without. .law. .court. .told. .act