Indonesian militant gets 15 years in jail over Bali attacks
ABC News
An Islamic militant who eluded capture for 18 years has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after an Indonesian court found him guilty of hiding information about the 2002 Bali bombings from authorities and harboring other suspects
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- An Islamic militant who eluded capture for 18 years was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday after an Indonesian court found him guilty of hiding information about the 2002 Bali bombings from authorities and harboring other suspects.
Prosecutors previously demanded a life sentence for Aris Sumarsono, 58, whose real name is Arif Sunarso but is better known as Zulkarnaen, for his role in the October 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists including 88 Australians and seven Americans.
However, the panel of three judges in East Jakarta District Court said they ignored the prosecutors’ first charge because the prosecution period had expired, and they sentenced Zulkarnaen to 15 years in jail for harboring other suspects, including bomb-maker Upik Lawanga, and for hiding information from authorities about the deadly attacks.
Indonesia’s Criminal Code stipulates that the authority to prosecute criminals is abolished after 18 years.
