The Jakarta Post, March 29, 2006
Death sentence sought for a militant over attack on a village
AMBON (AP): State prosecutors in Indonesia on Wednesday recommended an
Islamic militant be sentenced to death for his role in a deadly attack that killed three
Christians in May 2004.
Nasarudin Nasir was the last of six militants facing trial in connection with a series of
attacks against Christians between! May 2004 and last April in which eight civilians
and five policemen were killed.
One was sentenced to death while four others received jail sentences ranging from 18
years to life imprisonment.
At the District Court in Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, chief prosecutor Piet
Sahanaya said Nasarudin had violated the country's anti-terror law by taking part in
the May 5, 2004, attack on the Christian village of Wamkama on Buru Island.
Sahanaya said Nasarudin, 27, a member of the Islamic militant group Mujahidin in
Ambon, was also guilty of illegal possession of firearms.
Presiding judge John Teleuw adjourned the hearing until April 12 to hear from the
defense.
Maluku province, about 3,000 kilometers (1,600 miles) east of Jakarta, known as the
Spice Islands during Dutch colonial rule, was the scene of a sectarian war between
Muslims and Christiansin which up to 9,000 people died b! etween 1999-2002.
The violence drew militants from across Indonesia, some from the al-Qaida-linked
Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, which has since been blamed for a series of bloody
terrorist bombings on Western and Christian targets. (**)
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
