Indonesian bombmaker Dodi Suridi, 23, was sentenced to 10 years in jail by a district court yesterday, for helping to make the explosives used during a terrorist attack in Jakarta in January.
A second suspect, Ali Hamka, 47, was jailed for four years, after he was found guilty of trying to acquire firearms for the same strike.
The two men are the first among a group of at least 17 suspects to be convicted for the brazen attack on the capital, which the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had claimed responsibility for.
The Jan 14 attack was mounted by the "Jakarta Four" of Sunakim alias Afif, Muhammad Ali, Dian Juni Kurniadi and Ahmad Muhazin, who were armed with pistols, home-made bombs and grenades.
Neither Dodi nor Ali Hamka was at the scene of the siege which left eight people, including the four perpetrators, dead.
But prosecutors said evidence, including remnants of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), indicated they had critical roles in the preparations for the attack.
The court heard that IED debris, such as part of a gas canister used as a bomb casing, found near the police post where the attack took place, were traced to Dodi.
Details in court documents showed that he was told by Sunakim last November in Tegal, central Java, that bombs were needed for an attack on either the Russian or Iranian embassy in the city.
Ali Hamka, on the other hand, tried to supply firearms to the Jakarta Four but had failed to do so, said District Judge Maha Nikmah.
The judge, however, found that Ali Hamka had actively promoted violent ideology, even sending his son to Poso, central Sulawesi, to join the East Indonesia Mujahideen.
The militant group was led by Indonesia's most wanted terrorist, Santoso, until he was killed by security forces in July.
"I accept (the jail sentence), this is the risk of being a terrorist, Allah is Great," said Dodi after the judge read out his punishment.
tkchan@sph.com.sg
wahyudis@sph.com.sg
Get MyPaper for more stories.
