Jakarta, Indonesia - An Indonesian court on Thursday jailed a young Muslim cleric for seven years for helping assemble the bomb which killed 12 people outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta a year ago.
Heri Sigu Samboja, 23, was guilty of two counts of terrorism, Chief Judge Asnawati said in a verdict at South Jakarta district court.
She said Samboja had carried out a "sinister conspiracy in terrorism" and was guilty of "withholding information on terror attacks."
But Samboja was cleared of a primary charge of having directly taken part in the planning of the September 9, 2004, attack with Azahari Husin and Noordin Muhammad Top, two key suspects who are still at large.
Asnawati said Samboja, who teaches religion at an Islamic boarding school, had visited Jakarta and conducted surveillance on the embassy before a truck driven by Heri Golun exploded outside the building.
The judge also said the defendant had helped assemble the bomb which later killed 12 people including the suicide bomber Golun and wounded more than 200.
Samboja said he would appeal and maintained his innocence.
"It would be haram (sinful under Islam) for me to accept this verdict. Let the judgment in heaven decide....all has been arranged by the All-Knowing Allah," Samboja said after the trial.
He has said he did not know that the men he had befriended and helped were Azahari and Noordin since the pair had used aliases and looked younger than pictures distributed by police.
He claimed that he was a mere "cook" for the pair and had never taken part in preparing the bomb.
Malaysians Azahari and Noordin are also wanted for their key roles in several other attacks including the October 2002 Bali bombings and the bombing of Jakarta's Marriott hotel in August 2003.
The Bali bombings killed 202 mostly foreign holidaymakers while the Marriott strike left 12 people dead including a Dutch banker.
Authorities have blamed the three attacks on the Jemaah Islamiyah regional extremist network.
The district court is due to rule next Tuesday on whether a key suspect in the embassy bombing, Iwan Darmawan Mutho alias Rois, should get a death sentence.