Terror suspect's brother jailed for Jakarta bomb role

The younger brother of terror suspect Hambali has been jailed for four years on charges of helping to finance last year’s bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta.

Rusman Gunawan, one of four Indonesian students deported from Pakistan in December, was found guilty by a three-judge panel in Central Jakarta District Court of violating the country’s anti-terror law.

Judge Adullah Sidiq said Gunawan, 27, sent more than £16,000 (€22,980) when he was in Pakistan to militants in Indonesia, who used some of the money to fund the Marriott suicide attack that killed 12 people in August last year.

“The defendant has been found guilty of helping others to acts of terrorism and therefore we sentence him to four years in jail,” Sidiq said.

Gunawan told the court he was innocent and said he was considering appealing.

Gunawan’s older brother is Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, who was arrested in Thailand last year and is now in US custody at an undisclosed location.

Hambali is alleged to be key member of the al Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings, the Marriott attack and an explosion last month at the Australian Embassy.