ABC AUSTRALIA, 30/07/2004 21:03:43
Indonesian police say Bashir may be charged over hotel
bombing
Police in Indonesia say Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir could be charged in
connection with last year's Jakarta Marriott Hotel bombing, after charges linked to the
Bali bombing were dropped.
A police spokesman, Inspector General Paiman, says detectives are still probing
links between Bashir and those who carried out the August 2003 hotel attack, which
killed 12 people.
He says Bashir - who is accused of heading the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network -
could have planned the Marriott attack before his arrest in October, 2002.
Police this week said Bashir would not longer face charges of involvement in the
October 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.
However, they said the elderly Islamic cleric would still be charged under a tough
anti-terror law which authorises the death penalty.
The decision came after Indonesia's Constitutional Court last week threw out the
retroactive use of the 2003 anti-terror law to cover the Bali bombings.
30/07/2004 21:03:43 | ABC Radio Australia News
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