Terror leader jailed over Bali bombing

An Indonesian court today found the alleged leader of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group guilty of sheltering one of the Bali bombers.

Abu Rusdan, a 43-year-old militant cleric – who allegedly took over Jemaah Islamiyah from the group’s suspected founder, Abu Bakar Bashir, in April 2002 - was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for helping Bali bombing suspect Muklas hide from authorities.

“The defendant, Abu Rusdan, has been legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a crime by hiding the perpetrator of a terror act, and hiding information about the terror crime,” Judge Mahmud Rohimi said in Jakarta.

As Rohimi finished reading his verdict, more than 100 people chanted “God is great” from the gallery of the packed courtroom in a show of support for Rusdan, who was clad in a grey Muslim tunic and cap.

“I will appeal and I will sue those who have treated me cruelly,” Rusdan told the judge when asked if he accepted the ruling.

Rusdan had told the court that police stripped him naked and beat him until he confessed.

He was convicted of helping hide Ali Gufron – also known as Muklas – who has been sentenced to death for his role in the October 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.

Rusdan’s sentence was much shorter than the maximum punishment of 20 years in prison the judge could have given him. Prosecutors had sought a nine-year sentence.

Police said they recommended Rusdan be prosecuted on the charge of hiding Bali bomb suspects because they feared the court might not convict him on the bigger charge of leading Jemaah Islamiyah.