Lifeline for 'polite' accused
2004-01-19 08:06
Denpasar - Indonesian prosecutors on Monday again demanded life in prison for a man who prepared materials for the deadliest of the two Bali nightclub bombs that killed 202 people.
"We, the prosecutors, are steadfast in our demand that a life sentence be passed on defendant Suranto Abdul Ghoni," Putu Supartajaya told a court on the resort island.
The prosecutor was responding to Ghoni's defence plea last week in which he denied attending any meeting to prepare the October 2002 Bali attacks.
Ghoni's crimes are punishable by death but prosecutors are seeking a life sentence, saying he had admitted part of his role and had been "polite" in court.
Supartajaya said evidence showed the defendant was at several meetings at Solo in Central Java to prepare for the bombings.
Police say the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror network carried out the Bali attack, which killed mainly Western holidaymakers, to avenge perceived injustices against Muslims worldwide.
They have arrested some 35 people and most have been put on trial. Three have been sentenced to death and two were given life sentences.
Ghoni has admitted to crushing chemicals for the bomb at the home of convicted bomber Amrozi in Java in September 2002, and taking four boxes of the powdered chemicals to Bali by bus.
He told the court that, until he arrived in the island, he did not know what the chemicals were for. Amrozi, one of those sentenced to death, had told him they were for fertiliser.
But Ghoni has admitted helping pack explosive materials into a filing cabinet, which was placed inside the van that exploded outside the Sari Club. Another suicide bomb went off seconds earlier inside Paddy's Pub but the Sari Club blast claimed the most lives.
The trial of Ghoni - alias Umar, alias Wayan - will resume on January 26 to hear final comments from the defendant and his lawyers before judges pass their verdict.
Another suspect has said the Sari Club bomb was built under the supervision of two men who are still on the run - a Malaysian called Azahari Husin and an Indonesian called Dulmatin.