Man sentenced in 2002 Bali bombings

JAKARTA, Indonesia — An Islamic militant who eluded capture for 18 years was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison after an Indonesian court found him guilty of hiding information about the 2002 Bali bombings from authorities and harboring other suspects.

Prosecutors previously demanded a life sentence for Aris Sumarsono, 58, whose real name is Arif Sunarso but is better known as Zulkarnaen, for his role in the bombings that killed 202 people, including seven Americans.

However, the panel of three judges in East Jakarta District Court said they ignored the prosecutors’ first charge because the prosecution period had expired, and they sentenced Zulkarnaen to 15 years in jail for harboring other suspects and hiding information from authorities.

Indonesia’s Criminal Code stipulates that the authority to prosecute criminals is abolished after 18 years. Prosecutors said they would appeal to a higher court, while Zulkarnaen said he accepted the ruling and would not appeal.

Police and prosecutors say Zulkarnaen is the former military commander of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian militant group with ties to al-Qaida.