Abdul Azis was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for involvement in the 2005 Bali beachside bombings.

A Bali court yesterday sentenced Aziz, a high school computer teacher who also goes by the name of Jafar, to eight years in prison for his role in the triple suicide bombings there last year in which 20 people died. Judge Nyoman Gede Wirya, presiding over the state court in Denpasar, said that Abdul Aziz, 30 years old, was guilty of the primary charges of “engaging or taking part in” an act of terrorism.

Aziz was also found guilty of creating the website www.anshar.net on the orders of Noordin Mohammad Top, who is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the attacks. Aziz was also convicted of helping to harbour Noordin, who has several times eluded capture by Indonesian police. Azis found and rented a house in Pekalongan, Central Java, for Noordin in mid 2005 and thereafter visited him there about ten times.

Upon visiting Noordin Azis was instructed to build the anshar.net website, in cooperation with one Cahyo alias Wisnu. Also while visiting he and Noordin watched terrorist training videos in which techniques for shooting while riding a motorbike were shown. Azis also sent a video-recording of Noordin, in which the latter appeared in “Ninja” dress and threatened the “enemies of Islam” that more attacks were on the way, to aljazeerah.com.

Prosecutors had demanded a 10-year sentence for Aziz, who was heard to mutter “Allahu akbar” as he was escorted from the courtroom following the verdict.

The panel of judges also concluded that the bombings were carried out by the al-Qaeda-linked regional extremist network Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed by many governments in the region for a spate of attacks in past years. Aziz told the court he was not sure whether he would appeal the sentence.

Sept. 7th

After having considered the matter for two days Azis has decided not to appeal his conviction or sentence. His lawyer, Zulfikar Ramli, said that his client felt guilty and fully accepted his punishment.