An Indonesian court sentenced two leaders of the Jemaah Islamiyah group, blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings, to 15 years' jail on Monday and slammed the Islamist outfit as a "terrorist organisation." Self-proclaimed Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leaders Abu Dujana and Zarkasih were sentenced to 15 years each at separate trials in the South Jakarta district court.
Both men were arrested in separate police raids on the island of Java in June last year. They were found guilty of assisting terrorists and possessing, storing and moving weapons destined for terror acts.
The charges under anti-terrorism laws in the world's largest Muslim nation did not relate specifically to the bombings of crowded bars at the resort island of Bali which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
But JI is accused of organising the co-ordinated attacks and one of the alleged terrorists Dujana was convicted of protecting was Malaysian national Noordin Mohammad Top, one of the suspected Bali masterminds.
Top remains at large and is believed to be hiding somewhere in Indonesia. His colleague and compatriot Azahari Husin was shot dead in a raid in East Java in 2005. Three men accused of carrying out the bombings - Amrozi, Ali Ghufron and Imam Samudra - face death by firing squad after being convicted of their roles in the attack.
Zarkasih, who is aged in his 40s and like many Indonesians only uses one name, is understood to have led the extremist group in 2004, before Dujana, 37, rose to prominence as the leader of the organisation's military wing. "He knew about the firearms and ammunition that were to be used for terror purposes but he did not report this," Judge Risdianto said of Zarkasih.
In addition to their jail terms, Zarkasih and Dujana were also fined 10 million rupiah (1,100 dollars) for their membership of JI. In response to questions from the judges, both of the accused said they needed time to consider whether they would appeal their sentences.
The extremist group, which was outlawed after the Bali attacks, was a "terrorist organisation," said Judge Wachyono, who led the judging panel hearing Dujana's trial. The two men were arrested in the same week in different parts of central Java last year.
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