KUALA LUMPUR • A factory worker and an unemployed man pleaded guilty yesterday to throwing a hand grenade into a nightspot in Selangor last month, in what police had described as the first successful strike by terror group ISIS in Malaysia.
Imam Wahyudin Karjono, 21, and Jonius Ondrie @ Jahili, 24, pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court to eight counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of firearms. They were also charged over having the hand grenade.
The 2am attack on the Movida nightclub in Puchong, about 25km south-west of capital city Kuala Lumpur, occurred on June 28 and injured eight people who were mostly watching a Euro 2016 football match.
Earlier in a Magistrate's Court, the duo were each charged with two counts of committing and commissioning the act of terrorism.
No plea was recorded from them.
Wahyudin, in the same court, was separately charged with spreading terror ideology via the Telegram mobile app between March 23 and June 28 at his flat in Puchong Indah, the Malay Mail Online news site said.
Later, Sessions judge Azhaniz Teh Azman said the two young men were guilty of throwing a hand grenade that caused grievous injuries to the victims. When asked if they had anything to say, Wahyudin replied with "nothing" while Jonius shook his head.
The duo, who face a jail term of up to 14 years each and no less than six strokes of the cane, appeared unfazed when they were taken from the Magistrate's Court to the Sessions Court.
Public prosecutor Roslan Mat Nor asked that no bail be given to the accused. The case will be mentioned again on Sept 26, with Mr Roslan asking for the case to be referred to the High Court.
The attack on the nightspot was claimed by a Malaysian militant based in Syria to be an attack against "un-Islamic" behaviour.
Police later arrested 15 people linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in Malaysia, including Wahyudin and Jonius.
Security has since been raised in Malaysia, with police arresting 14 more people last week, and seizing a 1kg improvised explosive device in one home on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
