JAKARTA - An Indonesian court has sentenced hardened terrorist Suryadi Mas'ud to 10 years in jail for procuring firearms in the Philippines and for his involvement in funding terrorism.
The panel of three judges at the West Jakarta district court also slapped Suryadi, alias Montilia Perez, with a 50 million rupiah (about S$5,000) monetary fine, or a six-month jail term in default.
"The defendant purchased firearms in the Philippines for terror acts in Indonesia. What the defendant did has created public fear," presiding judge Machri Hendra told the court room on Tuesday (Feb 6).
"The defendant had been convicted previously and throughout the trial he never showed remorse."
The 10-year jail sentence matched the punishment sought by prosecutors.
The 45-year-old terrorist travelled to General Santos in the southern Philippines in late September 2015. To avert suspicion, his second wife Neneng Rita Anyar travelled with him on this mission to procure arms for several planned attacks back home.
Suryadi visited local militants named Marod and Dato, old friends from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Marod agreed to help and let Suryadi stay at his house.
Suryadi fought alongside MILF rebels against the Philippines military from 1996 to 2000.
Marod would bring home firearms which were on sale and Suryadi checked the condition of each one.
He sent photos of the guns to Iwan Darmawan Muntho, alias Rois, who is on death row in the Nusakambangan island prison after being convicted of being involved in the bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
If Rois gave the nod, Suryadi would test the guns in the backyard of Marod's house. Rois, who was later placed in an isolation cell, had arranged and funded Suryadi's mission.
Suryadi paid a total of US$30,000 (S$39,000) via Western Union, using borrowed ID cards, to purchase 16 M-16 rifles, one M-14 and five handguns.
After Tuesday's verdict was read out, Suryadi, said he did not plan to appeal.
Suryadi and others who fought in the southern Philippines have become top targets for the Indonesian government's surveillance unit because of their possible link to the country's firearms supply.
Suryadi had served several years in prison for his role in the 2002 bombing of a McDonald's outlet in Makassar, south Sulawesi, and over a paramilitary training camp in Aceh in 2010.
