http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/jakarta-court-jails-two-aceh-terrorists/582522 Jakarta Court Jails Two Aceh Terrorists Jakarta Globe | March 28, 2013
The Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday jailed two men who were involved in several shootings in the Aceh province in the lead-up to the April 2012 gubernatorial elections. The two men, who were sentenced in two separate hearings, were found guilty of participating in acts of terror and violence. Zakaria, also known as Jack bin Ahmad, was sentenced to 12 years in jail and Zainal Abidin was handed down an eight-year sentence, Tempo Interaktif news portal reported. Zakaria was also found guilty of taking part in the shooting of workers of a project by Telkom in the Jeumpa subdistrict of Aceh’s Bireuen on Dec. 31, 2011, that left three of the workers from Java dead and seven other wounded. “The defendant has been proven to have assisted in crimes of terrorism,” Judge M. Saptono said of Zakaria. Zainal was found guilty of his involvement in a shooting at a roadside coffee stall in the Seureuke village in the Langkahan subdistrict of North Aceh in January 2012, which left one man dead and another one injured. “For his deed, the defendant is sentenced to eight years in jail, minus the time he has already spent in detention,” Judge Rifandaru, who headed the panel of judges hearing Zainal’s case, said. Ahid Syaroni, the lawyers for the two defendants, demanded time to decide whether to appeal their sentences. “Their role was merely to assist, surveying the site, watching out for police etc.,” Ahid said after the hearing, as quoted by Tempo Interaktif. Prosecutors had recommended that Zakaria be sentenced to 17 years in jail while Zainal was recommended to serve 12 years in jail. While the two defendants did not know each other, they allegedly worked for the same mastermind, a former guerrilla fighter identified as Fikram. Fikram is said to have been behind the violence and shootings to protest against the former governor of Aceh, Irwandi Yusuf, whom he deemed had failed to fulfill his promise to improve the welfare of former guerrillas. He is currently serving 20-year jail sentence handed down by the same panel of judges. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
