Indonesian police will not use anti-terrorist legislation to prosecute five new Bali bombing suspects following a court ruling that it is unconstitutional, a report says. But Inspector General I Made Mangku Pastika, who led the hunt for the attackers, said he still expects to get convictions using other legislation. "We will now use the penal code or the emergency laws. I do not think there is a problem," Pastika, the Bali police chief, was quoted by Koran Tempo newspaper as saying.
| "We been doin' some research, and turns out, there's laws against killing 202 people. Who'da thunk that?" |
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.
| Gotta use 'em ever now and then. Otherwise they rust... |
The government rushed through tough anti-terror decrees, which were later formalised into law, 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 on Friday ruled that this retroactivity breaches the constitution. Courts in Bali convicted 33 people under the anti-terror law. Three were sentenced to death and others were jailed for between three years and life. Pastika said he was certain the constitutional court ruling, issued following an appeal by a convicted accomplice to the bombers, would not hamper justice. The court's chief judge Jimly Asshidiqie has said all Bali convictions would stand because the new ruling could itself not be made retroactive. But defence lawyers say it provides grounds for appeal, including by those facing execution.
| How about if you shoot them, then let them appeal? |
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his country was working with Indonesia to ensure the bombers did not escape punishment. Eighty-eight of those killed on the holiday island were Australians. The five new suspects were arrested at Sukoharjo in Central Java on June 30 and have since been moved to Bali. Police say one had attended planning meetings for the nightclub bombings while the four others, including a Malaysian, are suspected of helping to hide the first suspect.
The only Bali suspect currently on trial is Jhoni Hendrawan, alias Idris. He was also charged under the anti-terrorism law but the case was moved to Jakarta because of his alleged involvement in the Marriott hotel bombing in the capital last August. That attack killed 12 people and was also blamed on JI. Idris is accused of attending several meetings to plan the Bali attack and with surveying targets. He is also accused of detonating a bomb that did not claim any casualties near the US consulate on October 12. It exploded almost simultaneously with two other devices which caused carnage in the Kuta nightclub strip. Trial prosecutor Tubagus Arief Aziz said he would continue with his sentence recommendation when the hearing resumes at South Jakarta district court on Tuesday. "If I understand it correctly, nothing has changed for this trial. The constitutional court verdict only affects cases which have not been tried yet," Aziz said. He said the ruling does not apply to ongoing trials. |