A prominent Indonesian militant who has been linked to the 2002 Bali bombings has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Jakarta court.
Aris Sumarsono, better known as Zulkarnaen, was a former military commander for the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
He was found guilty of aiding and abetting terrorism by either lending money, giving shelter to a terror perpetrator and withholding information on a terror act.
The judge, who cannot be named for security reasons based on the country's anti-terrorism law, announced the 15-year jail term after the prosecution asked for a life sentence.
The judgements and sentencing do not relate directly to the 2002 attacks, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
The 58-year-old had been on the run for almost two decades after being named a suspect in the Bali attacks.
He was arrested after a raid by counterterrorism police in Sumatra in December 2020.
Police and prosecutors accused Zulkarnaen of playing a role in making the bombs used in the Bali attacks, and in the 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people.
But the Jakarta court dismissed charges he masterminded the Bali bombings as the statute of limitations had expired.
During the trial, Zulkarnaen said he was the leader of JI's military wing, but denied any involvement in the nightclub bombings.
Zulkarnaen's lawyer, Asludin Hatjani, said his client's jail sentence was too long and said they would consult about whether to appeal.
Security analyst Stanislaus Riyanta, from the University of Indonesia, warned that despite being sentenced to a jail term, Zulkarnaen should be monitored even when behind bars.
"He can spread his radical ideology in prison," the analyst said.
In the wake of the Bali attacks and with backing from Australia and the United States, Indonesia set up an elite anti-terrorist unit called Densus 88, which helped weaken JI and resulted in the arrest of hundreds of suspected militants.
While it remains unclear how potent the threat from JI remains, other groups such as the Islamic State-inspired Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) have increased in prominence and been blamed for new attacks in Indonesia, including the 2018 suicide bombings in Surabaya that killed around 30 people.
ABC/Reuters
