Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06JAKARTA11663
2006-09-20 11:00:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Jakarta
Cable title:  

BALI II TRIALS CONCLUDE

Tags:  PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS KPAO PGOV ID 
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RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 9942
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 1043
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 011663 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS KPAO PGOV ID
SUBJECT: BALI II TRIALS CONCLUDE

REF: JAKARTA 08505 BALI II TRIALS PROGRESS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 011663

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS KPAO PGOV ID
SUBJECT: BALI II TRIALS CONCLUDE

REF: JAKARTA 08505 BALI II TRIALS PROGRESS


1. Summary. The District Court in Denpasar, Bali on
September 14 announced the final of four convictions of
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) associates for their roles in the
October 1, 2005 suicide terror attacks in Bali. The Bali
Court used Indonesia's 2003 Counterterrorism Law and the
Criminal Code to hand down sentences for charges that varied
from assembling explosives linked to the attacks, to hiding
suspected mastermind Noordin Top and facilitating Top's use
of the Internet to spread the group's violent ideology. The
stiffest sentences were given to Mohammad Cholily (18 years)
and Anif Solchanudin (15 years),in each case exceeding the
prosecutor's recommendations. The court handed down
sentences for Abdul Aziz and Widyarto which were two years
lighter than the ten recommended by prosecutors. End Summary.


2. On September 14, the District Court in Denpasar, Bali,
delivered the final conviction against four Jemaah Islamiyah
(JI) associates arrested during the investigation into the
three suicide attacks in Bali's main tourist areas on October
1, 2005. The charges against the four JI members varied from
assembling explosives linked to the attacks, to hiding
suspected mastermind Noordin Top and facilitating Top's use
of the Internet to spread the group's violent ideology
(reftel). In separate trials before three-judge panels, the
Bali Court used Indonesia's 2003 Counterterrorism Law and the
Criminal Code to hand down sentences of between seven and 18
years.


3. The first of the four verdicts was given September 5 to
Abdul Aziz, who was sentenced to eight years in prison, two
years less than the 10 years that prosecutors had
recommended. He was convicted for assisting Top in
establishing "Anshar.net," a jihadi propaganda website, and
in creating the videotape of Top that included the
confessions of the suicide bombers. Despite his having been
a JI member since 1995, the Court said Aziz's lack of a prior
record and his penitent attitude resulted in a more lenient
sentence.


4. On September 7, Mohammad Cholily, a bombmaker trained by
late JI explosives expert Azahari, received an 18-year
sentence, the highest of the four and three years longer than
the prosecutor's recommendation. The judges were not moved
by Cholily's unsubstantiated claims that he had been tortured
by police investigators into making his confessions. In
delivering the sentence, the judges said that Cholily's
bombmaking skills made him a "dangerous man" and that they
believed Cholily had assembled as many as 21 explosive
devices, some of which had been used in last year's suicide
attacks. Cholily's lawyers have already filed their appeal,
according to Embassy contacts close to the case.


5. Also on September 7, Dwi Widyarto (aka Wiwid) received an
eight-year sentence for his failure to inform authorities of
the plot and the location of the plot's alleged mastermind
Noordin Top. Like Aziz, Wiwid assisted Top in taping the
video confessions of the suicide bombers. As in the case of
Aziz, the eight-year sentence was two years less than the ten
recommended by prosecutors. Judges cited Widyarto's
repentant attitude and his young family as the reasons for
their leniency.


6. On September 14, Anif Solchanudin received the last of the
four convictions, a 15-year sentence which exceeded the
prosecutor's recommendation by five years. The court found
that Anif had had direct knowledge of the October 2005
attacks, had provided logistical assistance to both Azahari
and Top, and had been actively involved in recruiting new JI
members, including Abdul Aziz. There also was an indication
that Anif had originally been recruited as a possible suicide
bomber.

Comment
--------------

7. In the context of other CT prosecutions over the last few
years, these four verdicts fall somewhere in the middle,
slightly stiffer than similar cases in the Marriott bombing
and slightly lower than similar cases in the Australian
Embassy bombing. Generally the more experienced prosecutors
have presented the stronger sentencing recommendations.
Cholily conceivably could have received the death penalty for
his bombmaking role. However, these four JI members largely
played worker-bee roles in the October 2005 attacks, which
are believed to have been masterminded by Noordin Top, who

JAKARTA 00011663 002 OF 002


remains at-large, and Azahari, who was killed in a police
raid last November, just over one month after the attacks.
HEFFERN