Jakarta: Three suspected members of late
terror leader Noordin Mohammad Top`s network went on trial in Indonesia today over twin suicide bombings on two luxury
hotels in Jakarta last year.
Bayu Seno, alias Tono, faces the death penalty if
convicted on charges of assembling the bombs used in the July
17 attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which
killed seven people.
"He assisted in an act of terrorism by way of purposely
using violence and stirring up an atmosphere of terror and
widespread fear," prosecutor Kiki Ahmad Yani told the West
Jakarta district court.
Seno also assisted by buying and transporting explosive
materials which were to be used in a plot to assassinate
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, he said.
Two Islamic extremists with backpacks filled with
homemade bombs blew themselves up at the hotels, marking the
bloody end of a four-year hiatus in attacks attributed to
Noordin and Al-Qaeda-linked regional terror network
Jemaah Islamiyah.
In a separate hearing, alleged Islamic militant Pandu
Wicaksono was charged with hiding Noordin at his house in
Surakarta district in Central Java in June 2009, prosecutor
Iwan Setiawan said.
Another suspect, Suramto, is on trial accused of
recruiting one of the suicide bombers and buying explosive
materials used for the hotel attacks.
Both also face the death penalty if found guilty.
Noordin was killed in a police raid in September, ending
one of Southeast Asia`s biggest manhunts.
PTI
