AN Indonesian sentenced to 15 years in jail for assisting the men behind the 2002 Bali bombings has died of kidney failure in hospital, an official said today. "Hernianto died of kidney failure on Friday afternoon," said Kumbayana, from the Sanglah general hospital in Bali's capital Denpasar.The 28-year-old died after being treated for eight days at the hospital, he said, adding that Hernianto was also admitted for kidney problems for several days in December. Hernianto was sentenced by a Bali court to 12 years imprisonment for having assisted the Bali bombers by making his home available for their meetings and an appeal court later added three more years to the original sentence. He had been serving time in Denpasar's Kerobokan state penitentiary.
The Koran Tempo newspaper reported that his body arrived at his home village of Sukoharjo near the Central Java city of Solo on Saturday and was buried at a local cemetery. Hundreds welcomed the coffin at the village with yells of "Allahu Akbar!", or God is Great, while a large banner welcomed the body for being that of a "martyr".