Indonesia jails militant from group linked with Al-Qaeda hinh anh 1Police escort suspected militant Aris Sumarsono (center) upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, on December 16, 2020. (Photo: AP)

Hanoi (VNA) – A court in Indonesia on January 19 sentenced a prominent member of an Indonesian militant group blamed for the deadly 2002 Bali bombings to 15 years in prison.

The East Jakarta District Court found Aris Sumarsono, 58, guilty of committing terrorism, saying he withheld information about the 2002 Bali bombings from authorities and harbouring other suspects

Sumarsono, better known as Zulkarnaen, a high-ranking member of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant group, a Southeast Asian jihadist network with ties to the Al-Qaeda terrorist group.

He evaded authorities for nearly two decades until his arrest in December 2020.

The JI is believed to be the mastermind behind the 2002 bombings that killed more than 200 people on the resort island of Bali, as well as many other attacks in Indonesia./.

VNA