LAKSAMANA.Net, August 26, 2004 09:51 AM
Australia May Seek to Try Bali Bombers
Laksamana.Net - The Australian government says it may try to take the militants
responsible for the Bali bombings to Australia for trial if they manage to escape
justice in Indonesia.
"We will do everything we can, so I suppose if all else failed that would be an option
we'd have to look at. But at this stage we're a long way away from that happening,"
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation's The 7.30 Report on Wednesday (25/8/04) night.
"If they were all suddenly released, and the Indonesians then brought new charges
against them and somehow that failed as well, we wouldn't stop. I can assure you, we
wouldn't stop in our determination to make sure that these people met justice," he
added.
There are concerns the 33 men convicted over the Bali bombings could be acquitted
following last month's ruling by the Constitutional Court that Indonesia's Law
No.16/2003 on Terrorism cannot be used retroactively.
South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday dropped Bali-related terrorism charges
against Idris alias Jhoni Hendrawan (31), even though he had admitted involvement in
the October 12, 2002, bombings of two nightclubs – the Sari Club and Paddy's Irish
Pub – on the resort island.
Idris attended several meetings at which the bombings were planned. He also
selected the targets, taught the Sari Club car/suicide bomber how to drive and
detonated a small bomb near the US Consulate in the Bali capital Denpasar.
The nightclub attacks, blamed on regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah, left
202 people dead, mostly foreign tourists, including 88 Australians.
Judges at the court acknowledged that Idris was involved in the Bali bombings but
said the charges had to be dropped because of the Constitutional Court's ruling that
the anti-terror law cannot be applied retroactively.
Instead, the court sentenced Idris to 10 years in jail for helping to transport 130
kilograms of explosives used in the August 2003 bombing of Jakarta's JW Marriott
Hotel that left 12 people dead, mostly Indonesian Muslims.
After the verdict was handed down, Idris made a ambiguous expression of remorse for
his actions in the Bali attacks. "If, according to God, I'm guilty, then I'm sorry for the
victims and the victims' families. But if, according to God, what I have done is right, I
hope God will accept it," he was quoted as saying by The Australian daily.
Television footage of Idris smiling and laughing sparked expressions of outrage and
dismay in Australia.
But Downer said Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda had assured him the
previous convictions over the Bali bombings were likely to stand.
"The Indonesian foreign minister, as well as the justice minister, who our ambassador
spoke to earlier in the day, both reaffirmed what they've said before, which is that
they're determined that those people responsible for the Bali bombing will serve their
sentences, will remain in jail, and so if there are problems of the kind we are seeing at
the moment, they'll be working to address those problems," he told the ABC.
He expressed hope that new charges could be brought against the Bali bombers if the
Constitutional Court overturns their convictions on appeal. "For example, charges of
murder. The foreign minister explained to me today that there is a standing cabinet
decision in Indonesia that all these people responsible for the Bali bombings will be
kept in jail, so they're going to have to work out the mechanics of it."
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister John Howard expressed disappointment that
Idris had managed to escape punishment for the Bali bombings.
He said his government will continue to put "all the legitimate pressure" it can on the
Indonesian government to make certain the convicted bombers remain in jail.
"Exactly how it works its way through I can't be certain at the moment, but I can
promise the families of the victims that no stone will be left unturned by my
government to see that these people remain behind bars," he was quoted as saying
by ABC.
Lawyer Tells Australia Not to Interfere
Wirawan Adnan, the lawyer for convicted Bali bomber Amrozi, who is one of three
men on death row for masterminding the attacks, has said Australia should not be
attempting to interfere in the Indonesian justice system.
"I agree that Amrozi should be retried under different law, but I disagree if the
Australian government says just send them, send Amrozi to the death row. I mean, I
disagree with that kind of comment. That means it's disregarding the justice system,"
he told ABC Radio's The World Today.
Adnan said he will appeal against Amrozi's conviction under the anti-terror law, but
added that his client and the other convicted bombers could be re-tried for murder if
they are acquitted over terrorist offences.
"First they have to re-arrest them under… using… under different law. That's if they
want to do it in accordance with the law. Then they will recharge them or provide a
new indictment for them under the ordinary law, which is the Criminal Court," he said.
He said Indonesian prosecutors had erred by charging Amrozi under the anti-terror
law. "It was the belief that he was charged with the wrong law. That was our opinion
from day one, from the beginning… So it's a mistake for them, and this is the cause
for their mistake, for not doing according to the law, but doing it according to the
international pressure," he added.
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