Indonesia jails three for Jakarta hotel bombing

JAKARTA - Indonesia sentenced three men to jail yesterday for involvement in the 2003 bombing of a luxury Jakarta hotel, wrapping up the prosecution of suspects detained following the blast that killed 12 people.

However, the two Malaysian men accused of masterminding the blast outside the JW Marriott Hotel - Noordin M Top and Azahari bin Husin - remain fugitives, despite a nationwide manhunt.

The verdicts on Tuesday bring to 24 the number of people sentenced in relation to the bombing.

The South Jakarta court sentenced 27-year-old Bagus Budi Pranoto and 26-year-old Lutfi Haidaroh to three years and six months each in jail for hiding Top and Azahari in Indonesia's East Java city of Surabaya.

The third man, charged with the same offences, Sonhadi Bin Muhajil, 33, was sentenced to four years in jail.

The three men defended their role and expressed no remorse.

"Helping a Muslim who has been oppressed has been declared a must according to Islamic law," said the three defendants in a statement distributed after their separate trial sessions.

"Whatever the judge's verdict is, it is tyranny because it is against Islamic law."

Sonhadi yelled "there will be revenge" to journalists outside the court after his trial.

The three men were detained last August.

The two Malaysian fugitives are accused by Indonesia of being key players in the Asian al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah network.

The group is blamed for a spate of bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali blasts which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

- REUTERS