The Jakarta Post, 4/18/2005 4:20:55 PM
Alleged KFC bomber faces death sentence as terror trial starts
JAKARTA (AFP): The alleged mastermind of a series of bombings -- including a strike
on a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet -- that killed three people in Makassar, South
Sulawesi province, went on trial Monday and faces a possible death penalty if
convicted.
Under heavy guard, Muhammad Agung Hamid took the stand in the Makassar District
Court accused of planning attacks on a KFC and a car showroom in the city on
December 5, 2002.
Prosecutors took turns to read the 400-page indictment in which they accused
Hamid, who goes by several aliases, of terrorism. The 36-year-old was charged under
tough laws that carry a maximum death sentence.
They accused Hamid of having "planned or motivated others to engage in acts of
terrorism," and of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Hamid was on the run for almost two years before he was arrested in the university
city of Yogyakarta, in Central Java, last October.
A total of 17 other verdicts, ranging from acquittals to jail sentences of up to 18 years,
have been issued by the same court in Makassar over the same bombings.
Police have said some of those involved in the Makassar bombings were associated
with militants involved in the blasts in Bali on October 12, 2002 that killed 202 people.
Investigators have blamed the Bali attack on Jemaah Islamiyah, an Al-Qaeda-linked
regional terror network.The trial was adjourned for one week.(*)
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