Terror Suspect Found Guilty in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia - An Indonesian court on Wednesday found the alleged leader of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group guilty of sheltering one of the Bali bombers.

Abu Rusdan, a 43-year-old militant cleric - who allegedly took over Jemaah Islamiyah from the group's suspected founder, Abu Bakar Bashir, in April 2002 - was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for helping Bali bombing suspect Muklas hide from authorities.

"The defendant, Abu Rusdan, has been legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a crime by hiding the perpetrator of a terror act, and hiding information about the terror crime," Judge Mahmud Rohimi said.

As Rohimi finished reading his verdict, more than 100 people chanted "God is great" from the gallery of the packed courtroom in a show of support for Rusdan, who was clad in a gray Muslim tunic and cap.

"I will appeal and I will sue those who have treated me cruelly," Rusdan told the judge when asked if he accepted the ruling.

Rusdan had told the court that police stripped him naked and beat him until he confessed.

He was convicted of helping hide Ali Gufron - also known as Muklas - who has been sentenced to death for his role in the October 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.

Rusdan's sentence was much shorter than the maximum punishment of 20 years in prison the judge could have given him.

Police said they recommended Rusdan be prosecuted on the charge of hiding Bali bomb suspects because they feared the court might not convict him on the bigger charge of leading Jemaah Islamiyah.

In December, an appeals court overturned a treason conviction against alleged Jemaah Islamiyah founder Bashir, but upheld a separate conviction on an immigration offense. Bashir's prison sentence was reduced to three years from four.

Rusdan received militant training in Afghanistan and served as a key military leader within Jemaah Islamiyah, according to intelligence officials.

He was a preacher at a mosque and at one point ran a computer store in Central Java, according to a report by the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group.