JAKARTA - An Islamic militant began his 20-year jail sentence last Thursday on charges of plotting the beheading of three Christian schoolgirls in Poso in 2005. Tho other militants sentenced for the same crime were sentenced to each 14 years. Judges said they had no doubt that the 34-year-old Hasanuddin was the mastermind behind the murders. "The defendant along with his accomplices has violated the anti-terrorism laws," said chief judge Binsar Siregar told the court on Wednesday.
The judges came to agreement on the request for a 20-year sentence. Co-conspirators in the beheadings, Lilik Puromo and Irwanto Irano were sentenced to 14 years in jail by the same court just an hour later. All were prosecuted under a law that was enacted just weeks after the the bombing of two nightspots on the island of Bali, on 12 October 2002. Members of Jemaah Islamiyah were held responsible for this act of terrorism.
The militants faced a firing squad, but the judges as pressed for leniency for their cooperation with the authorities, confessing and showing remorse. "I was indeed involved in the beheadings," Hasanuddin told the court last year. "With honesty and sincerity coming from my heart, I ask for forgiveness from the families of the victims. I promise to never repeat it again."
The outcome however was expected to raise questions within the Christian community in Poso. in October last year three Christian militant were executed on charges of leading an attack on an Islamic boarding school during sectarian violence in 2000.
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JAKARTA - An Islamic militant began his 20-year jail sentence last Thursday on charges of plotting the beheading of three Christian schoolgirls in Poso in 2005. Tho other militants sentenced for the same crime were sentenced to each 14 years. Judges said they had no doubt that the 34-year-old Hasanuddin was the mastermind behind the murders. "The defendant along with his accomplices has violated the anti-terrorism laws," said chief judge Binsar Siregar told the court on Wednesday.
