Publication Date : 22-01-2014
Sigit Indrajit, the ringleader of a failed plot to bomb the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta last May, has been sentenced to seven and a half years behind bars.
His verdict, handed down by the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday, was six months short of the eight years prosecutors had sought.
"He is proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt of committing an act of terrorism," presiding judge Hariono said, adding that Sigit, 23, had committed an "evil" conspiracy involving the misuse of explosives.
The militant showed no remorse for his actions. Speaking to The Straits times from his lock-up shortly before he was sentenced, Sigit said: "What we did was to remind the Myanmar government about the injustice that they did."
He told police earlier that he wanted to retaliate against Buddhist-majority Myanmar for its treatment of Muslim Rohingya in the country.
Myanmar has witnessed several outbreaks of sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims since 2012. Scores have been killed, and an estimated 140,000 people, mainly from the Rohingya minority, have been displaced.
"I've heard from my wife that Rohingya people are still getting ill-treatment," said Sigit, who was kept abreast of developments in Myanmar by his wife during her weekly visits to his police lock-up.
"As a Muslim devotee, we must feel the pain whenever our fellow Muslim brothers are being hurt - as if we were one same body."
Several other militants have also been sentenced over the failed plot. Earlier this month, Achmad Taufik was given seven and a half years, while Rokhadi was sentenced to six years in jail.
Asked if his intended "reminder" to the Myanmar government had worked, Sigit said it had not, but would keep trying.
"I will do time in prison," he said, "And if I'm still alive when my (prison) time ends, I will fight again."
http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/myanmar-embassy-bombing-mastermind-gets-7-5-years-jail/
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