Burma embassy bomb leader jailed

21 January 2014
Last updated at 02:52 ET













Sigit Indrajit (left) is the third man to be jailed over the failed bomb plot

An Indonesian court has jailed a man who plotted an attack on the Burmese embassy in Jakarta.

Sigit Indrajit confessed to masterminding a failed attempt to bomb the diplomatic mission in the capital in May.

It was an attempt to avenge the deaths of Rohingya Muslims in Burma - also known as Myanmar.

Sigit Indrajit was found guilty of violating anti-terror laws and jailed for seven and a half years.

He is the third man to be jailed over the bomb plot.

'Evil conspiracy'

The plan was discovered in May when police arrested two of the suspects riding a motorbike to the Burmese embassy in Jakarta.

Police said five home-made bombs were found in a backpack carried by the men, and other explosive materials in a house they rented.

At the South Jakarta District Court Presiding Judge Hariono - who like many Indonesians goes by one name - said that Indrajit had been "proven guilty, legally and convincingly, of committing an evil conspiracy by carrying out an act of terrorism".

Indrajit's lawyer, Akhyar, told the BBC that his client did not regret his wrongdoing.

"He didn't feel any remorse because that's his ideology, he believes what he did was the right thing to do," Akhyar said.

Indrajit met his accomplices on Facebook, where they decided to target the Burmese embassy, prosecutors said.

Rohingyas, whom the UN describes as a persecuted religious and linguistic minority from western Burma, are not recognised as Burmese citizens.

In 2012, extensive clashes erupted between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine state, leaving almost 200 dead.

http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/burma-embassy-bomb-leader-jailed/