| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Jail warden on trial for giving computer to Bali bomber |
| 2007-02-20 |
| A prison warden supplied convicted Bali bomber Imam Samudra with a laptop computer which allowed him to plot other attacks from his cell on death row, an Indonesian court heard yesterday. Benny Irawan, alias Abu Hanafi, 29, went on trial in Semarang district court, Central Java, yesterday accused of receiving a package containing a laptop and other equipment on May 5, 2005, while he was a warden at Bali’s Kerobokan jail. He then wrapped the laptop in old newspapers and gave it to Samudra in his jail cell later the same day, ElShinta radio said. Irawan was later transferred to work at another jail in Purwokerto, Central Java. “The defendant had intentionally provided assistance or facilities to a terrorist,” prosecutor Didik Joko told the court. Joko said that Samudra – sentenced to death over his key role in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists – used the laptop to stay in contact with other Muslim militants. But he did not confirm press reports quoting police sources who said that Samudra had helped plan other attacks, including the 2005 Bali suicide bombings that killed 20 bystanders. The indictment said that Samudra had sent money to Agung Setyadi, who is to be tried separately, to buy the laptop and send it to Irawan in Bali. Setyadi and another man, Agung Prabowo, are both accused of creating a terrorism website, with tips on attacking foreigners, on the orders of Samudra. Samudra and fellow Bali bombers Amrozi and Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, are all on death row. Mukhlas has preached to other Muslim militants by mobile phone from his Bali jail cell, according to a report to parliament earlier this month by police chief General Sutanto. All three were moved to a high security island jail off the southern coast of Central Java in October 2005, with the authorities citing security reasons. Defence lawyer Joko Susanto said the court had no jurisdiction to hear the case since the alleged crime took place in Bali, not Central Java. Prosecutors argued that the defendant had been since transferred to work in a Central Java jail and that most of the witnesses came from the province. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 it's bad when your warden has an alias |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-02-20 11:32 |
| #1 This is why we don't trust Indonesian police or the courts. Too much symapathy because their confused about what being a good muslim means. |
| Posted by: Angenter Crolugum3645 2007-02-20 09:01 |