Thursday May 12, 2005

Indonesian prosecutors recommend four-year jail sentence for top terror suspect's wife

BANGIL, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian prosecutors on Thursday recommended a four-year jail sentence for the wife of Noordin Mohamed Top, an alleged leader of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah and mastermind of several bomb attacks.

Munfiatun, alias Fitri, who appeared in court dressed in a head-to-toe black cover called a chador, was arrested in September on charges of violating Indonesia's anti-terror law by allegedly hiding information about a terror suspect, and of falsifying information on her wedding documents.

In the District Court of Bangil on Indonesia's Java island, prosecutor Ernawati said Munfiatun confessed she knew Noordin was a most-wanted terrorist, but married the Malaysian citizen because she loved him. She allegedly refused to inform authorities of his whereabouts, as required by law.

Ernawati, like many Indonesians, goes by a single name.

Munfiatun, 28, and Noordin married last year in East Java province's capital, Surabaya. They registered their marriage in nearby Pasuruan town, where Noordin used a fake name, Abdurahman Aufi, on the couple's marriage document.

"The defendant Munfiatun alias Fitri is legally proven to have hidden information about a perpetrator of a terror action,'' Ernawati said.

The court hearing was adjourned until May 23, when Munfiatun and her lawyers are scheduled to submit their defense.

Noordin and another Malaysian, Azahari bin Husin, are wanted over a series on bomb attacks in Indonesia including the Bali blasts that killed 202 people in Oct. 12, 2002; the bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in 2003; and the September 2004 suicide bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.

They are believed to be somewhere in Indonesia.-AP

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Indonesian prosecutors recommend four-year jail sentence for top terror suspect's wife