The Age, January 12, 2007
Anger after Bali bomb lawyer stages walk-out
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta
A LAWYER for the three Bali bombers on death row yesterday walked out of Bali's
Denpasar District Court, angering judges hearing last-ditch appeals against their
executions.
The judges ordered that the last possible review of the convictions go ahead. Lawyers
had demanded that the hearing be transferred from Bali to a court in central Java near
where the so-called "smiling assassin" Amrozi, his brother Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas
and Imam Samudra are imprisoned.
The fate of the three men is now in the hands of Indonesia's Supreme Court in
Jakarta.
The men's appeals are based on claims that their trials were unconstitutional because
they were charged under anti-terrorism laws that were introduced after they carried out
the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202, including 88 Australians.
Legal experts say the bombers have strong "in-principle" grounds for claiming that
their convictions were unconstitutional because of a 2004 ruling by the country's
Constitutional Court. But they say Supreme Court judges are unlikely to acknowledge
the ruling and will probably dismiss the appeals.
After the lawyer, Fahmi Bachmid, walked out of court yesterday, prosecutors urged
the judges to recommend that the men's submissions be rejected. Putu Indriati, who
prosecuted Ghufron, told reporters outside the court that by walking out, the lawyer
had "obstructed justice".
Amrozi, Ghufron and Samudra are on death row on the prison island of
Nusakambangan. They have told their lawyers they are ready to die. But Achmad
Michdan, one of their lawyers, said last week that he had convinced them that even
though they are ready to face the firing squad "they cannot be executed unlawfully".
With AAP
Copyright © 2006. The Age Company Ltd.
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