JAKARTA, Indonesia – An Indonesian court on Thursday (June 21st) sentenced terrorist Umar Patek to 20 years in prison for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings and a series of attacks against Jakarta-area churches on Christmas Eve in 2000, AFP reported.

The verdict was handed down by a panel of five West Jakarta District Court judges after a gruelling 11-hour hearing, observed by more than 100 journalists and guarded by some 300 police.

Patek was found guilty of premeditated murder in connection with the suicide bombings at a Kuta nightclub and bar, which killed 202 people. The court also convicted him on charges related to the Christmas Eve bombings, in which 19 died.

Prosecutors had sought a life sentence because he showed remorse during the four-month trial, while Patek's attorneys asked for less than 15 years.

"I felt so upset and guilty when I saw the bomb killed many people. I said to [the attackers] that it was my last involvement in this kind of activity," Patek said in court on May 31st.

Patek claimed he had only a minor role in the Bali attacks, was against them "from the start" and tried to stop them at the 11th hour. He has also apologised to victims and their families.

But chief judge Encep Yuliardi told the court Thursday: "He should know that no matter how small his role, the result is loss of lives".

"He had said he disagreed with it, but he could have rejected it and could have considered not following the orders of his seniors, or at least reporting [the plot] to the authorities," Encep said.

Before his arrest, Patek was the most-wanted terror suspect in Indonesia. He was picked up in January 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan and extradited to Indonesia in August.

Indonesia executed three men in 2008 -- Imam Samudra, and brothers Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron, known as Mukhlas -- for their key roles in the Bali attacks.

Several others have been jailed, including bombmaker Ali Imron, who was given a life sentence for helping build and deliver bombs.