Militant gets 15-yr jail term for Bali blasts

Anif Solchanudin, one of four men convicted in the attacks on three crowded restaurants, was charged with helping plan the bombings.

An Islamic militant showed no remorse on Thursday after being sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 2005 Bali bombings that left 20 dead, vowing to take part in new suicide missions after he was freed.

HT Image

Anif Solchanudin -- one of four men convicted in the attacks on three crowded restaurants -- was charged with helping plan the bombings and hiding one of Southeast Asia's most wanted terror suspects.

Judge Daniel Palipin said the Denpasar District Court decided to hand down a 15-year sentence, five years more than prosecutors demanded, because the 24-year-old militant had also offered to be a suicide bomber for the October 1, 2005 attacks.

Solchanudin, wearing a grey traditional Muslim shirt, told reporters after the ruling that he still intended to seek death as a martyr once he was freed.

He said he had no plans to appeal. Indonesia has been hit by a string of terrorist attacks blamed on members of the Al-Qaeda linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah in recent years, including the October 1, 2005 bombings on Bali.

Indonesia, which has more Muslims than any other nation, has arrested or convicted more than 150 militants since 2002, when a terror strike on two Bali nightclubs killed 202 people, sentencing at least three to death.