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Confessed Bali Bomber Cleared on Technicality
via Herald SunTerror and the law 26aug04 ATTORNEY-General Philip Ruddock's warning that Australia is a terror target is hardly a surprise. But it is comes as an angry nation fumes over the news that one of the confessed Bali bombers has been cleared on a technicality. A court ruling means that terrorist Idris, one of those responsible for killing 202 people, including 88 Australians, cannot be found guilty because the law under which he was charged was retrospective. However Idris will not go free, because he has also been jailed for 10 years for playing a minor role in last year's suicide bombing of a Jakarta hotel, which killed 12 people. But his success in ducking the Bali charge raises the prospect that other Islamic extremists among the convicted Bali bombers could be freed if they appeal. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer suggests that Indonesia should simply charge Idris with murder. Murder is murder and does not need to be related to terrorism to justify a charge. Australians are entitled to demand that Canberra push this point hard in Jakarta. There will be some shorts in a bunch over this one. Posted by: .com 2004-08-26 |
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