Jakarta - An Indonesian court on Tuesday sentenced three
Islamic militants to 12 years each for plotting terrorist attacks and
killing a Christian teacher.
The three men - Sugianto, Adityawarman and Heri Purwanto - were
among 10 people arrested in the South Sumatran provincial capital
Palembang last year for alleged involvement in a plot to bomb a cafe
and to kill Christian priests as part of a jihad campaign waged by
the Jemaah Islamiyah regional militant group.
Judges at the South Jakarta district court found the three guilty
of involvement in the murder of a Christian teacher in Palembang in
2007 and a conspiracy to blow up a cafe in neighboring West Sumatra
the previous year.
Prosecutors said the militants aborted the plan after realizing
that the cafe was frequented by women wearing Muslim headscarves.
Prosecutors have sought 20 years in prison for a Singaporean
Muslim militant, Muhammad Hasan bin Zaynudin, suspected to be the
leader of the South Sumatra cell.
Hasan has admitted he had met al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and
undergone military training in Afghanistan.
During the raids on the militants in June and July, police seized
20 assembled bombs, dozens of kilograms of potassium chlorate and
other explosive materials as well as several hand grenades.
The country's anti-terrorism police have arrested about 300
militants since the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, but
authorities said the threat of more attacks remained even though the
country has not suffered an attack since 2005.
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