Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Amir Abdillah, 34, was sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in the July 2009 JW Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings in Jakarta. About 11 people were killed in those attacks. The Indonesian man was also accused in a failed plot to kill President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. In both cases, he was convicted under the country’s anti-terror laws of concealing information and harbouring terrorists.
Prosecutors said he was involved with the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an Islamist group blamed for a string of attacks in Indonesia. Abdillah was the third militant to be sentenced over the hotel attacks.
Abdillah was found guilty of acting as driver for Noordin Mohammad Top, at one time Indonesia's most wanted militant, who was killed in a police raid in September of last year.
He was also convicted of helping to plan attacks and transporting explosives used in a failed attack on the President. In his defence, he said he was only guilty of hiding information.
"I just did as I was told. I was told to deliver ingredients for cakes. I didn't know they were actually explosive materials. I was asked to drive a cleric around—I had no idea he was Noordin M Top," he said.
