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| Southeast Asia |
| Police aim to get Bali case to prosecutors by Thursday |
| 2002-12-09 |
| Police in the world's most populous Muslim country appear to have made big strides in the Bali case in recent weeks, linking the two key suspects with al Qaeda and Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah, reporting the major suspects have confessed, and piecing together how the attack was allegedly carried out. "We will coordinate with the prosecutor to have the case ready by Thursday," the chief investigator in the Bali case, I Made Mangku Pastika, told reporters on Monday. "According to the law, police have six months to present the case. We plan to present the case before the limit expires." In Indonesia, once the case has been presented to them, the prosecutors decide whether to take it to court, drop it, or ask police to investigate further -- a process that can take weeks. This will be the point at which we find out how serious they are about prosecuting Islamic terrorists in a Muslim country. Police have so far arrested more than 20 people over the October 12 Bali nightclub bombings that killed at least 191. It is not clear how many of those arrested are directly implicated. Key suspect Imam Samudra was transferred from Jakarta police headquarters to the resort island late on Friday for further questioning, handcuffed and wearing a prison uniform, and yelling "God is Great!" and "Crush America!" Proving how devote he is. Pastika said the trial location would be decided by the justice minister and said there was no reason it could not be Bali even though some fear that could hit tourism. And it could be worse how? Pastika reiterated on Monday that no direct link had been found between the Bali blasts and two bombs that exploded in the southern Sulawesi port city of Makassar late on Thursday, killing three people and seriously wounding 11. Other than people being dead. |
| Posted by:Steve |