Indonesian court sentences Bali bomber to 20 years in prison

Patek was convicted for his role in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people.


Reuters June 21, 2012

JAKARTA, INDONESIA: A court in Jakarta convicted a militant on Thursday for making the bombs that killed 202 people at Bali nightclubs in 2002 and sentenced him to 20 years in the final trial of those responsible for Indonesia's worst terror attack.

Umar Patek was found guilty on all six charges at a court surrounded by snipers and bomb defusal experts.

Aside from his role in the Bali bombings, he also mixed chemicals for 13 bombs that detonated in five churches in the capital on Christmas Eve in 2000 and killed around 15 people.

The Bali bombs were a watershed for Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, forcing the secular state to confront the presence of violent militants. It has since been largely successful in containing militant attacks.

Patek, 45, was captured in the same Pakistan town where US forces killed Osama bin Laden, and security officials say he belonged to the banned Jemaah Islamiah group linked to the al Qaeda.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ