Bali bombing accomplices jailed

An Indonesian court sentenced two men to up to 15 years in jail today for providing housing and facilitating meetings of militants plotting last year’s Bali nightclub bombings in which 202 died.

Judges found Maskur bin Abdul Kadir and Hernianto guilty of violating anti-terror laws by helping organisers of the bombings rent a safe house in Bali and hosting gatherings of the militants at which plans for the October 12 attacks were drawn up.

But the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support prosecution claims the defendants knew that the people attending the meetings were terrorists planning an attack.

Hernianto, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Maskur was jailed for 15 years.

Indonesian authorities have arrested about three dozen people in connection with the bombings, the worst terrorist atrocity since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Two of the militants have been sentenced to death, and 13 others have received prison terms ranging from seven years to life.

Hernianto claimed during earlier court sessions that he ”only served tea and cakes” at the September 2001 meeting in his house on Indonesia’s main island of Java.

The meeting was attended by several key figures involved in the blasts, including Amrozi bin Nurhashyim and Imam Samudra, both of whom have been sentenced to death for their roles in planning and carrying out the attacks.