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Indonesia warns of Bali backlash
Indonesia has told Australia not to lecture or pressure Jakarta about dealing with the Bali bombers, warning it could result in a backlash by Islamic fundamentalists.
| "You know what they're like..." |
Indonesia's chief foreign affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa rebuffed Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's suggestion Australia could seek to extradite some of the bombers. Dr Natalegawa said it was ridiculous to suggest the bombers were escaping punishment for their crimes. "That's not quite the case when we look at where we are factually, because most of the bombers are behind bars and justice has been served." Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday vowed to push Indonesia into ensuring militants convicted of the Bali bombings were punished after a court dropped charges against one of the bombers. Jhoni Hendrawan, alias Idris, was on Tuesday sentenced to 10 years in prison for involvement in the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last year. But he was cleared of helping plan the October 2002 Bali bombings following a decision by Indonesia's Constitutional Court last month which barred the use of retroactive anti-terror laws enacted after the deadly attacks.
| There aren't any laws in Indonesia against killing 202 people. 201's the limit... |
Dr Natalegawa denied the bombers were getting away "scot-free" and warned Australia against making suggestions they were.
"Y'go making suggestions like that, bad things could happen!"
"What kinda bad things?"
"Let's just say... Do yer drinkin' at home!" |
"To have an overbearing expression of interest in the micro-management of the trials may have the deleterious impact of leading to accusations Indonesia is bowing to foreign pressure," he said.
| "Yeah! An' that overbearing expression of interest in the micro-management of the victims' funerals really stuck in our craw, too!" |
"This type of comment may give credence to critics of the government. Our recommended approach would be to have confidence in the legal process and in the corridor of law rather than so-called diplomatic pressure." Prominent Islamic firebrand and suspected Jemaah Islamiah spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir and his supporters have accused the Indonesian government of bowing to foreign pressure by seeking to re-try him next month for terrorism.
| After running this site for just under three years, I've come to the conclusion that "Islamic firebrand" is a poor translation of "bloodthirsty lunatic." It's starting to wear. We need a better translation. |
Mr Howard said he would leave no stone unturned to ensure the militants were punished, and said he would "put all the legitimate pressure we can on the Indonesian government to make certain that these people remain in jail". Mr Downer phoned his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda and said Australia could seek to extradite some of the bombers to face justice if Indonesian legal efforts failed as a result of the Constitutional Court ruling. But Dr Natalegawa said it was unlikely Jakarta would ever agree to Indonesian citizens being deported to Australia to face court. "That's certainly not on our horizon. We are firmly focused here," he said.
Posted by: tipper 2004-08-26 |
