Bali Bombers may Cheat Death

[DBAHO]

MORE than 30 jailed Bali bombers could win new trials after Indonesia's highest court ruled yesterday that the terror law used to convict them was unconstitutional.

 

Lawyers said yesterday they would submit applications for judicial reviews of all the bombers' convictions after the Constitutional Court ruled the anti-terrorism law under which they were imprisoned - and in some cases sentenced to death - was invalid.

 

"We won today," lawyer Wirawan Adnan said. "Our appeal to deny retroactivity (in Indonesia's anti-terrorism legislation) was granted. That's what this case was all about."

 

Mr Adnan later confirmed that he and his colleagues would submit applications for judicial reviews for all the Bali bombers.

 

In a split decision, five of the nine Constitutional Court judges found that convicting a particular Bali bombing suspect under retrospective anti-terrorism legislation was unconstitutional.

 

The Bali bombings killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, on October 12, 2002. Indonesia's anti-terrorism legislation, law No16 2003, was passed months later, although the forerunner presidential decree was issued in November 2002.

 

Among the Bali bombing militants convicted in Bali last year were the so-called "smiling bomber", Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, his older brother Mukhlas and their colleague Imam Samudra. All were sentenced to death, and they await their executions once all the judicial avenues are exhausted.

 

Australian survivors of the Bali bombings face the prospect of having to relive the horror of the 2002 attack, with the possibility that some may have to return to give evidence against the bombers.

 

Victims and their families reacted with shock, disappointment and anger to news of the court rulings.

 

Jake Ryan, 23, who was injured in the bombings and whose Southport Sharks teammate Billy Hardy died, was disappointed yesterday with the ruling, which could lead to retrials for Amrozi and the other bombers.

 

Mr Ryan, now living in Perth, won world attention when he confronted Samudra on the steps of the courthouse and shouted: "You're a f..king dog, mate, you are going to die, you f..k."

 

Although he felt yesterday that it was unlikely the men would ever be released from jail, he thought it could mean some escaped death sentences.

 

"If it (their release) happened, they would be hunted down. There would be a few people chasing them. That is for sure," he said.

 

Mr Adnan said the case could open the jail doors for the Bali bombers.

 

"We consider this as new evidence," he said, explaining that judicial reviews could only be heard if new evidentiary material was available. "After we discussed it, the whole team agreed to submit judicial reviews for all the (Bali bombing) clients."

 

Australian diplomatic staff were in immediate contact with the Indonesian Government following the court ruling.

 

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer promised to fight to ensure those convicted remain behind bars.

 

"If they get overturned on technicality in an appeal, in those circumstances we'll be working with the Indonesian Government, encouraging them to bring fresh charges, if that is going to be at all possible," Mr Downer said.

 

If retrials are ordered, under the criminal code rather than the anti-terrorism legislation, the prosecutions will have difficulty with "double jeopardy".

 

Retrying a suspect for the same crime using the same evidence could prove to be illegal, experts say, although the death sentence would still be applicable for murder.

 

Bali bomber lawyer Lutfi Hakim said Indonesia's national police chief, Da'i Bachtiar, should study the verdict, as it could halt all unresolved cases, including that of extremist Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Bashir, accused of leading the terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah, is awaiting his trial under the anti-terrorism legislation and police have said he will be tried in connection with the Bali bombings.

 

"Regarding the cases which have been tried, we obviously will refuse to allow the cases to continue, including Abu Bakar Bashir's case," Mr Hakim said.

 

Prosecutor Andi Herman said members of the Bashir prosecution team would study the verdict.

 

The Constitutional Court judges referred to section 28I of the Indonesian constitution's second amendment, which rules out prosecutions using retrospective laws.

 

"The rights to life, freedom from torture, freedom of thought ... and the right not to be tried under a law with retrospective effect are all human rights that cannot be limited under any circumstances," the constitution says.