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| Southeast Asia |
| Court junks Dwikarna plea on jail term penalty |
| 2007-03-12 |
| THE Court of Appeals (CA) has denied for lack of merit a petition of a captured Indonesian national alleged to be a member of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) seeking to overturn a Pasay court decision that sentenced him to 17 years imprisonment for illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The CA 13th Division chaired by Associate Justice Edgardo Cruz declared final and executory the ruling of the late Pasay Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Henrick Gingoyon who ordered the entry of judgment of the case against petitioner Agnus Dwikarna. The appellate court concurred with Gingoyon's Dec. 19, 2002 ruling that Dwikarna has forfeited his right to appeal his case for failure to file a notice of appeal within 15-day reglementary period from the promulgation of judgment. "We have reviewed the records of the case and find that respondent judge correctly denied petitioner's motion to reconsider the entry of judgment because the RTC decision had already attained finality," the CA said. Court records showed that Dwikarna and two other Indonesian companions -- Hamsin Lin Rung and Abdul Jamal Balfas -- had been indicted before the Pasay RTC for illegal possession of firearms and explosives shortly after they were arrested before boarding an international flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on March 13, 2002. Aviation policemen claimed a search of the three Indonesians' luggage yielded detonating cords, blasting caps, and a small quantity of C4 plastic explosive. After a preliminary investigation, the Pasay City Prosecutor's Office recommended on April 19, 2002 the dismissal of charges against Rung and Balfas for lack of sufficient evidence while found probable cause to indict Dwikarna. Investigators also found pieces of evidence linking Dwikarna to JI, which has connection with Al-Qaeda terror group. After trial, Gingoyon rendered a decision finding Dwikarna guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Presidential Decree (PD) 1866 or illegal possession of firearms and explosives charges. |
| Posted by:Fred |