The Jakarta Post, 5/18/2004 6:25:42 PM
Bombing accomplice sentenced to seven years in jail
JAKARTA (AP): A Muslim militant was convicted and sentenced to seven years in
prison Tuesday for transporting chemicals used in last year's J.W. Marriott hotel
bombing in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.
Mohammad Rais was found guilty of helping carry out a terrorist act, but was cleared
of being one of the main players in the Aug. 5, 2003, attack, said Judge Johanes Dinti
at the South Jakarta district court.
"The blast in the Marriott hotel created widespread fear, caused the death of 11
people and damages to public buildings," Dinti said.
Rais was impassive as the verdict was read. He said later he would consider whether
to appeal.
Prosecutors had sought a 10-year prison term for Rais. The maximum penalty for
violating the country's anti-terror laws is death.
Rais earlier apologized to victims of the bombing, and insisted he didn't know the
explosives he transported would be used in an attack.
He called on Jamaah Islamiyah - the al-Qaeda-linked group blamed for the bombing -
to renounce violence.
Rais claimed he was ordered by two top suspects to transport 20 kilograms of
potassium chlorate, used in bomb-making, from Sumatra to Jakarta, and then stash it
at the house of another suspect.
Rais - brother-in-law of the fugitive Malaysian terrorist suspect Noordin Mohammed -
is among 15 people charged in connection with the Marriott attack.
Another defendant was sentenced in February to 10 years in jail. Four others are
currently standing trial.
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