Indonesian
judges said Ali Ghufron, better known as Mukhlas, had shown no remorse
for authorizing last October's attacks, which they described as a
"crime against humanity", Agence France Press (AFP)
reported.
"The
defendant, Ali Ghufron... has been legally and convincingly proven
guilty of having, together with others, planned an act of terrorism
and also of being in illegal possession of explosives," said
Judge Cokorda Raka Suamba.
"We
punish the defendant with the death sentence."
Police
say Mukhlas is a senior figure in the alleged Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)
and the man who authorized the bombings on October 12, 2002.
Mukhlas
said he would appeal "because the law used is not in line with
what I believe in."
Amrozi,
who is a younger brother of Mukhlas, and Imam Samudra are also
appealing their sentences despite their professed wish to die as
martyrs.
Another
brother, Ali Imron, last month escaped a death sentence and was jailed
for life after expressing remorse. He has appealed for presidential
clemency.
Prosecutors
say Mukhlas, 43, helped plan the Bali attack, channeled funds for it
and gave Samudra the final approval for the blasts which killed people
from 21 countries.
Australia
suffered the greatest number of casualties, with 88 Australian
nationals losing their lives, BBC said. Thirty-eight Indonesians, 26
Britons, nine Swedes, seven Americans, six Germans and four Dutch
nationals also lost their lives in the attack.
Mukhlas
has earlier said he has no regrets over the bombings "because the
Jews led by the United States and Israel have already declared war
against Muslims," the AFP reported.
The
five-judge panel, which took turns reading the evidence summary and
verdict, "has not found any factor that could alleviate the
punishment," Judge Istiningsih said.
In
his defense plea last month, he termed himself a "small-fry
terrorist" compared to those he called the big fishes -- the U.S.
President George Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and British
Prime Minister Tony Blair.
They
said he visited Bali at the end of September 2002, when he met Samudra
and agreed on the targets. On October 5, he again visited the island,
watched the bombs being built and "motivated" the two
bombers.
Police
arrested 34 people for the Bali blasts. Most are on trial and several
have received long prison terms.
In
a separate court, judges sentenced Hamzah Baya to six years for
helping Ali Imron escape to East Kalimantan after the blast. He was
arrested there in January 2003.
