ABC AUSTRALIA, 26/07/2004 17:19:01
Indonesian police determined despite Bali bomb setback
Indonesian police say they still expect to get convictions for five new suspects in the
Bali bombing, despite a court ruling last week that the country's anti-terrorist
legislation is unconstitutional.
Bali police chief, Inspector General Made Mangku Pastika, who led the hunt for the
attackers, says police will use other legislation to secure convictions.
He says they will use the penal code or emergency laws.
The emergency laws - passed in the early 1950s - authorise the death sentence for
possession of firearms and explosives, although this provision has not been used in
recent years.
The government rushed through anti-terror decrees a week after the Bali nightclub
blasts killed 202 people in October 2002.
The legislation was made retroactive to cover the attack but the constitutional court
ruled last week it breaches the constitution.
Thirty-three people were convicted under the anti-terror law.
The constitutional court's chief judge says the Bali convictions stand because the new
ruling can not be made retroactive.
But defence lawyers say it provides grounds for appeal.
The five new suspects were arrested at Sukoharjo in Central Java last month.
Police say one attended planning meetings for the nightclub bombings while the four
others, including a Malaysian, are suspected of helping to hide the first suspect.
26/07/2004 17:19:01 | ABC Radio Australia News
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