VZCZCXRO4265
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1663/01 2631100
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201100Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0291
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 9942
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 1043
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 011663 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS KPAO PGOV ID
SUBJECT: BALI II TRIALS CONCLUDE 
 
REF: JAKARTA 08505 BALI II TRIALS PROGRESS 
 
¶1. Summary.  The District Court in Denpasar, Bali on 
September 14 announced the final of four convictions of 
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) associates for their roles in the 
October 1, 2005 suicide terror attacks in Bali.  The Bali 
Court used Indonesia's 2003 Counterterrorism Law and the 
Criminal Code to hand down sentences for charges that varied 
from assembling explosives linked to the attacks, to hiding 
suspected mastermind Noordin Top and facilitating Top's use 
of the Internet to spread the group's violent ideology.  The 
stiffest sentences were given to Mohammad Cholily (18 years) 
and Anif Solchanudin (15 years), in each case exceeding the 
prosecutor's recommendations.  The court handed down 
sentences for Abdul Aziz and Widyarto which were two years 
lighter than the ten recommended by prosecutors.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. On September 14, the District Court in Denpasar, Bali, 
delivered the final conviction against four Jemaah Islamiyah 
(JI) associates arrested during the investigation into the 
three suicide attacks in Bali's main tourist areas on October 
1, 2005.  The charges against the four JI members varied from 
assembling explosives linked to the attacks, to hiding 
suspected mastermind Noordin Top and facilitating Top's use 
of the Internet to spread the group's violent ideology 
(reftel).  In separate trials before three-judge panels, the 
Bali Court used Indonesia's 2003 Counterterrorism Law and the 
Criminal Code to hand down sentences of between seven and 18 
years. 
 
¶3. The first of the four verdicts was given September 5 to 
Abdul Aziz, who was sentenced to eight years in prison, two 
years less than the 10 years that prosecutors had 
recommended.  He was convicted for assisting Top in 
establishing "Anshar.net," a jihadi propaganda website, and 
in creating the videotape of Top that included the 
confessions of the suicide bombers.  Despite his having been 
a JI member since 1995, the Court said Aziz's lack of a prior 
record and his penitent attitude resulted in a more lenient 
sentence. 
 
¶4. On September 7, Mohammad Cholily, a bombmaker trained by 
late JI explosives expert Azahari, received an 18-year 
sentence, the highest of the four and three years longer than 
the prosecutor's recommendation.  The judges were not moved 
by Cholily's unsubstantiated claims that he had been tortured 
by police investigators into making his confessions.  In 
delivering the sentence, the judges said that Cholily's 
bombmaking skills made him a "dangerous man" and that they 
believed Cholily had assembled as many as 21 explosive 
devices, some of which had been used in last year's suicide 
attacks.  Cholily's lawyers have already filed their appeal, 
according to Embassy contacts close to the case. 
 
¶5. Also on September 7, Dwi Widyarto (aka Wiwid) received an 
eight-year sentence for his failure to inform authorities of 
the plot and the location of the plot's alleged mastermind 
Noordin Top.  Like Aziz, Wiwid assisted Top in taping the 
video confessions of the suicide bombers.  As in the case of 
Aziz, the eight-year sentence was two years less than the ten 
recommended by prosecutors.  Judges cited Widyarto's 
repentant attitude and his young family as the reasons for 
their leniency. 
 
¶6. On September 14, Anif Solchanudin received the last of the 
four convictions, a 15-year sentence which exceeded the 
prosecutor's recommendation by five years.  The court found 
that Anif had had direct knowledge of the October 2005 
attacks, had provided logistical assistance to both Azahari 
and Top, and had been actively involved in recruiting new JI 
members, including Abdul Aziz.  There also was an indication 
that Anif had originally been recruited as a possible suicide 
bomber. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶7. In the context of other CT prosecutions over the last few 
years, these four verdicts fall somewhere in the middle, 
slightly stiffer than similar cases in the Marriott bombing 
and slightly lower than similar cases in the Australian 
Embassy bombing.  Generally the more experienced prosecutors 
have presented the stronger sentencing recommendations. 
Cholily conceivably could have received the death penalty for 
his bombmaking role.  However, these four JI members largely 
played worker-bee roles in the October 2005 attacks, which 
are believed to have been masterminded by Noordin Top, who 
 
JAKARTA 00011663  002 OF 002 
 
 
remains at-large, and Azahari, who was killed in a police 
raid last November, just over one month after the attacks. 
HEFFERN