Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The Bandung District Court has convicted and sentenced 17 alleged members of the Islamic State of Indonesia (NII) to between two-and-a-half and three years in prison for treason.
On Friday, the panel of three judges, hearing 14 dossiers, said the defendants were guilty of violating Article 107, clause 1, of the Criminal Code on treason, and Article 55 on conspiring to commit treason.
Judges Yance Bombing, Joni Santosa and Abdul Moehan said the 17 defendants had caused public disturbance and threatened the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).
"They have deviated from the NKRI by acknowledging the NII as their state," the judges said in their verdicts.
The sentences handed down were lighter than those demanded by prosecutors, who had sought prison terms of four to five years. But the judges said the defendants had no prior criminal convictions and had behaved well during the trial that began on Aug. 8.
Police arrested the men last April in the Bandung districts of Cihanjuang, Cijerah and Riung Bandung.
The four men who received three-year sentences were: Suganda, alias Miftahayatudin, accused of being the Region 7 (Southern West Java) vice governor and chief spokesman; Mulyadi, the so-called Region 7 sharia division head; Uden Abdullah, the alleged Region 73 (Cianjur and Sukabumi) head; and Oban, considered the Region 72 (Garut and Sumedang) head. The men have not said whether they would appeal the verdicts.
During a heated discussion with defense lawyer Seprandjaya at the court's detention room, the defendants said they feared receiving longer sentences should they file appeals with the West Java High Court.
Seprandjaya called the verdicts ambiguous, claiming the judges did not take into consideration facts revealed during the trial that showed the men were unaware they were part of the NII.
"The judges should not break the rules, they should be professional in handing down verdicts and not eliminate facts uncovered during the trial," he said, adding he would recommend his clients file appeals.
"There were no witnesses called to testify, except for the defendants themselves." He added it was clear they knew nothing about the NII.
"It all started when the defendants became involved in conversations with people such as Haidir, Musa and Abu Patin, who are still at large," he told The Jakarta Post after the sentencing.
"These people then asked the defendants to join Koran study groups, leading to their being named by the police as NII officials."
Most of the defendants, the lawyer went on, were only infak (tithe) collectors for the real NII leaders who had evade arrest.
"If they are guilty of treason, then there must be masterminds who can attest to the defendants being part of the NII," he said. "But during the trial, no one knew who the masterminds were."