Indonesian Terrorists Jailed for 5-6 Years
Six people accused of a series of bomb scares across Central Java a year ago were sentenced on Thursday to between five and six years in prison by the West Jakarta District Court.
The court found Roky Aprisdianto, also known as Atok Prabowo, the mastermind of the campaign, guilty on several counts under the 2003 Anti-Terrorism Law. He was sentenced to six years for heading the group that placed bombs at several sites in Solo and Klaten, including police posts, churches and mosques.
That was lighter than the eight years prosecutors had been seeking. Roky’s lawyer said his client would not appeal the decision.
Unexploded bombs found at two police posts and three churches in Solo on Dec. 1 last year were traced back to the group, which had reportedly wanted to start a religious war.
The group also detonated small explosives at Solo’s Kliwon Market on Dec. 1 and a church six days later, and was responsible for an unexploded bomb found at a mosque in Yogyakarta on Dec. 23 and a mysterious package left in a mosque in Klaten on Dec. 30.
The package turned out to contain cow dung and a clock.
Also sentenced on Thursday were five of Roky’s followers, two of whom, Yuda Anggoro and Joko Lelono, both 19, were students at the State Vocational School (SMKN) No. 2 in Klaten. The three others — Nugroho Budi Santoso, 20, Tri Budi Santoso, 20, and Agung Jati Santoso, 21 — were all graduates of the same school.
All five were sentenced to five years in prison each. That was lighter than the seven years that prosecutors had demanded.
The judges said they took into account a number of mitigating factors when sentencing the five, including the fact that they were all impressionable youths at the time of the bomb scares and had been well-behaved throughout the trial.
Prosecutors said they would accept the decision and not appeal for tougher sentences.
Earlier this year, Arga Wiratama, 17, another student from the same vocational school, was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the terrorist cell.
The group members were arrested in January. At the time, the police said that although the terrorist cell was in its embryonic stage, it had progressed to the point where members were able to manufacture potentially deadly homemade explosives.
“Can you imagine if we had failed to crack down and stop their activities?” Brig. Gen. M. Syafii, the head of Densus 88, the National Police’s counterterrorism unit, said at the time.
A police source later revealed that Roky was connected to Sogir, a known bomb maker who had trained under Malaysian explosives expert Azahari Husin, who was responsible for assembling the bombs that killed 202 people in the 2002 Bali attacks.
File photo, Jakarta.
The West Jakarta District Court has convicted six of a string of bombings, and responsibility for bomb alerts, a year ago on Java and sent them to prison. It is believed the group wished to begin a holy war.

Prosecutors wanted eight years for 29-year-old ringleader Roki Aprisdianto but the court gave him a six-year sentence. His five co-accused followers - all students or graduates from 's State Vocational School No. 2 - all received five years, less than the seven years the prosecution wanted. Neither Aprisdianto nor the prosecution will appeal; the defence may yet appeal the other decisions.

Agung Jati Santoso, 21, Tri Budi Santoso, 20, Nugroho Budi Santoso, 19, Yuda Anggoro, 19, Joko Lelono, 18, and Aprisdianto all saw convictions under anti-terrorism legislation from 2003. Their crimes began on December 1, 2009 in , with unexploded bombs found at three churches and two police posts. The town's Kliwon Market was rocked by a small explosion and six days later so was a church.

These were followed by an unexploded bomb at a  mosque on December 23 and a Klaten bomb scare in which a cow excrement and a clock were left in another mosque. The convictions follow that of seventeen-year-old Arga Wiratama, given a two-year sentence. The group was arrested in January.

Mitigation cited by the court for Aprisdianto's five followers included their young ages and their good conduct during the trial.


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