Heru Andriyanto

Alleged Noordin Lieutenant Faces Trial

Amir Abdullah will on Wednesday face the opening day of his trial for his alleged role in the 2009 twin bombings of Jakarta hotels, a prosecutor said on Sunday.

“He used to be the driver for Noordin [Mohammad Top] and Syaifuddin Zuhri, another hotel bomber who died in a police raid last October,” prosecutor Totok Bambang said.

Amir is accused of concealing information on the July 17 attacks, which claimed nine lives at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels. Amir also faces charges of harboring other militants linked to the bombings.

“His arrest led police to more key suspects in the attacks and ultimately to the shootout in Solo that killed Noordin,” Totok said.

Within days of Amir being placed in police custody in August, an antiterror unit raided a boarding house in Bekasi where a group of Noordin’s men reportedly had outfitted a van with explosives to be used against the convoy of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Amir also told police of the whereabouts of Ibrohim, Noordin’s new recruit, who worked as a florist at the JW Marriott Hotel and had the access needed to bypass security at the hotel.

Police said Ibrohim was to be used as a suicide bomber for a further attack but he was killed in an exchange of gunfire at the house in Temanggung, Central Java, which was broadcast live to the nation.

The police raid in Bekasi however, managed to net two suspected militants.

“From Amir, police got a lot of information about Noordin’s group and how it operated,” Totok said.

The defendant was charged under anti-terrorism laws that allow for the death sentence, Totok said.

Amir will be tried together with another defendant, Aris Susanto, at the South Jakarta District Court, but their indictment documents would be separated, the men’s lawyer said.

“Given that Amir has been very cooperative with police, he deserves leniency,” Asludin Hatjani said.

Amir and Aris are among 50 suspected militants who face charges pertaining to the hotel bombings and other attacks. Most are charged either with hiding information about Noordin’s whereabouts — or actively harboring him and his accomplices.

Noordin, a Malaysian national, was killed in September in Solo, Central Java. Syaifuddin died in a police attack a month later with his brother Muhammad Syahrir.

Syaifuddin is believed to have recruited suicide bombers for the group. He is also understood to be behind a video of the group’s preparation ahead of the attacks on the hotels, which included footage of the bombers shopping for clothes and carrying out surveillance of the two targets.

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