Bali, Sept 18: Ali Imron, one of the few defendants to express remorse over the terrorist attacks on Indonesia`s Bali island, was sentenced today to life in prison for his role in the bombings that killed 202 people. "Ali Imron has been found guilty in a legal and convincing manner of terrorism," said judge Mulyani, who read out the verdict.
Mulyani, who goes by a single name, ignored a prosecution demand that Imron be given a 20-year prison term, and sentenced him to life in jail.
Imron had already admitted involvement in the Oct 12 attack.
He could have been sentenced to death. But the five-judge panel earlier said a lighter sentence was justified given his expressions of remorse and his testimony against other defendants on trial.
Imron`s older brother Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, and the mastermind of the Bali attack, Imam Samudra, have already been sentenced death. Both defiantly defended the bombings as necessary to avenge the treatment of Muslims at the hands of the United States and Israel.
Imron, a 33-year old Islamic boarding school teacher, was arrested in January. He has admitted building one of the two bombs that ripped through two, packed nightclubs and driving a bomb-laden minivan to the site of the attack.
The Bali attack is blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah network, which reportedly wants to turn much of Southeast Asia into an Islamic state. The network`s commander, Riduan Isamuddin Hambali, was captured last month in Thailand and is in US custody. Bureau Report