Medan – A court in the North Sumatran capital of Medan has jailed for 11 years a man found guilty of making and posting 14 bombs to churches and clergymen on Christmas Eve last year.

The sentence was lighter than the 20-year jail term sought by chief prosecutor Freddy Siregar.

The judges said in their verdict on Monday that Edy Sugiharto, 42, had been found guilty beyond any doubt of producing bombs to be detonated in Medan and Pematang Siantar, also in North Sumatra, and in Pekanbaru, Riau.

Presiding Judge K. Sianturi said that Edy had received an order to produce the bombs from a man identified as Polem, alias Eriyanto, a commander of the Free Aceh Movement in the neighbouring province of Aceh. Polem is still at large. The judge said that Edy had received 28 million rupiah (S$5,600) from Polem to assemble 14 bombs and to detonate them at the homes of clergymen and churches in the cities.The court heard that after several meetings with Polem and his friends between June and December 19, last year, Edy began making the bombs on December 20. He finished assembling them three days later. Each of the bombs was then put in a parcel with a Christmas greeting card bearing the message: "Appealing for God's blessings and a miracle for my mother who is undergoing cervical cancer surgery in Singapore."

Only one of the parcels, sent to a reverend's home in Pematang Siantar, exploded, damaging the house but causing no injuries. The other bombs were found before they could go off. Edy and his lawyer Togatorop have appealed. The prosecutors said they would also appeal.