Indonesia Punishes Terror Group Pair

Two Leaders Of Jemaah Islamiyah Receive 15-Year Sentences For String Of Deadly Bombings

(AP)  Two leaders of the feared Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah were sentenced Monday to 15 years in jail, dealing yet another blow to the group blamed for a string of deadly bombings in Indonesia.

Abu Dujana, the group's military commander, and Zarkasih, who acted briefly as JI's caretaker leader, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit terrorist attacks, harboring fugitives and stockpiling illegal arms.

The rulings were handed down in separate, lengthy trials at the South Jakarta District Court.

Jemaah Islamiyah and its allies are accused of carrying out the 2002 bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, a 2003 attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, a 2004 attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, and 2005 triple suicide bombings on restaurants in Bali.

Many of the more than 240 killed in the attacks were foreign tourists.

Neither Dujana nor Zarkasih - both of whom faced possible death sentences - were charged in connection with those blasts.

Dujana's conviction was over recent attacks on Christians on the eastern island of Sulawesi, which was plagued by religious violence from 1999 to 2001. He has condemned al Qaeda-style bombings, arguing they were counterproductive to Jemaah Islamiyah's reported aim of establishing Islamic law across the region.

Presiding Judge Wahjono, who like many Indonesians uses one name, sentenced Dujana to 15 years in prison, saying his recent public condemnations of terrorism had been taken into account. He also said he was convinced Dujana could play a role in helping reform other jailed terrorists.

Asked if he would appeal the ruling, Dujana, 37, said, "I'll think about it."

Judge Eddy Risdianto said Zarkasih, 45, was given a reduced sentence because he only served as a two-month caretaker leader of Jemaah Islamiyah in 2005, not the emir as had been alleged. The judge also cited his good behavior in prison.

The two judges also labeled Jemaah Islamiyah a terrorist group, a move that could pave the way for the government to ban the group, something it has previously said would be difficult because it was not a "formal organization."

Even without a ban on the network, the government's crackdown has met with huge success, resulting in hundreds of arrests in recent years, thanks partly to forensic and technical help from foreign governments.

Jemaah Islamiyah was formed in the early 1990s as an offshoot of another militant network stretching back decades. Its core leadership fought or trained in Afghanistan and some came under the influence of al Qaeda.

A regional crackdown following the Bali attacks netted hundreds of members and sympathizers, severely weakening the group. Former members and analysts say the hard-core faction that carried out the bombings no longer operates under its command.

[runningralph]

brianbwb,
Western civilization did not start jihad.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Jemaah Islamiyah was formed in the early 1990s as an offshoot of another militant network stretching back decades."

Absolutely false. When former president Soeharto, himself a devout Muslim, was in power, such people were efficiently "silenced" before they were able to form groups.

Indonesia, which does have the largest population of Muslims in the world, also had constitutional provisions forbidding any religion, including Islam, from harming and discriminating against other religions, and Soeharto was very quick to put a stop to such activities, as he considered such to be a challenge to government authority, and a threat to national stability.

It was after the western countries, via the IMF, engineered the financial collapse which led to the toppling of the Soeharto regime, that various factions, be they military, religious, civilian, and "mafia," grew bold enough to assert themselves in the corruption and power struggle that followed, and which still goes on to date.

[brianbwb-2009]

"One, everything he said is true." Posted by runningralph

The fact that you agree with it does not make it true, in fact it only means that two paranoid war worshipers agree on a rationalization to kill others for no real reason.

[brianbwb-2009]

"IT WOULD NOT COME IN A TANK OR A FIGHTER JET." Posted by libsrweak

Correct, it will be wrapped in the American flag, screaming jingoistic propaganda and lies about an imaginary enemy, and will advocate wars against people who haven''t harmed them, on the basis of some warped extrapolation of what might happen in their worst nightmare scenario.

It will be a currently serving president, his cabinet, and his war worshiping supporters.

[ringading3]

After Osama is elected they can apply for a green card in Penn!

[runningralph]

Dear Miss incog-nito,
I just want to point out a couple of things about Mr. libsrweak''s post. One, everything he said is true. Two, the point went over your head. That point being that the enemy of Western civilization is Islamic jihad.

[incog-nito]

libsrweak: Idiot. You don''t want to "remind" anybody anything. You''ve already concluded that liberals are anti-American and just want to sound like you know what you''re talking about. "The enemy does not wear a uniform"? Very deep, very original. Gee, had no idea.

[memerider]

What''s frightening is that people actually believe you can reach a psychopath with love and forgiveness. It just doesn''t sink in that they are master manipulators who have a deep understanding of human nature.

[libsrweak]

I would just like to remind those anti-american liberal masses the nature of our enemy..IT DOES NOT WEAR A UNIFORM, IT DOES NOT HAVE ANY NATIONALITY, IT WOULD NOT COME IN A TANK OR A FIGHTER JET.