Indonesia judge sentences Jemaah Islamiyah leaders to 15 years News
Indonesia judge sentences Jemaah Islamiyah leaders to 15 years

[JURIST] An Indonesian judge handed down 15-year sentences to two leaders of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) [CFR backgrounder; JURIST news archive], after convicting them on terrorism charges. The judge also ruled that JI is a terrorist organization, the first time an Indonesian court has recognized JI as such. The two JI leaders, Zarkasih and Abu Dujana [BBC profiles], went on trial [JURIST report] in December, charged with training and equipping JI members as well as conspiracy to commit terrorism. Prosecutors had previously demanded life sentences [JURIST report] for the two.

Abu Dujana, arrested [JURIST report] in June, has confessed to leading JI's military wing, which has claimed responsibility for the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy [BBC report] in Jakarta and a series of 2005 Bali bombings [BBC report]. He was charged with possessing explosives as well as assisting and harboring two men wanted in connection with the 2002 Bali night club bombings [GlobalSecurity backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. BBC News has more.

VOTE FOR JURIST

 JURIST is nominated for a 2008 Webby Award as best Law website… Please vote for us here!

THIS DAY @ LAW

Tojo and other Japanese WWII leaders executed for war crimes

On December 23, 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed for war crimes in Tokyo.

Learn more about the Tokyo War Crimes Trials.

Terry Nichols convicted for Oklahoma City bombing

On December 23, 1997, Terry Nichols was found guilty of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter for assisting Timothy McVeigh in bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He was later sentenced to life in prison. On April 19, 1995, McVeigh detonated a truck bomb that gutted the building and killed 168 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack on US. soil until the attacks of September 11, 2001. McVeigh was convicted for his role before Nichols on June 2, 1997. Learn more about the trials of Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh.