Agus Dwikarna's lawyers seek retrial<\/p>\n
Lawyers for an Indonesian man convicted of illegal explosives
\npossession asked the Philippine Supreme Court on Monday to give
\nhim more time to file a petition for a retrial.<\/p>\n
Agus Dwikarna's lawyers asked the court to give him up to Nov.
\n30 to file the petition to allow them to present new evidence
\nthey claim would show that police planted explosives in his
\nluggage.<\/p>\n
Dwikarna was convicted by a suburban Pasay city court in July
\nof carrying C-4 plastic explosives and bomb parts at the Ninoy
\nAquino International Airport as he and two other Indonesians were
\nleaving Manila for Bangkok in March.<\/p>\n
He was sentenced to 17 years in prison. The other Indonesians
\nwere later freed and allowed to return home.<\/p>\n
Dwikarna's lawyers appealed his conviction, but the Pasay
\ncourt denied the appeal Oct. 16, giving them up to the end of
\nOctober to appeal to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Instead, his lawyers have decided to file a petition for
\nretrial before the Supreme Court after they acquired new evidence
\nfavoring Dwikarna, said one of the attorneys, Felipe Arcilla.
\nArcilla said among the new evidence is testimony from a Thai
\nnational and one of the two Indonesians with Dwikarna at the
\nairport indicating the explosives were planted by police.<\/p>\n
Police officials allege Dwikarna is a member of Jamaah
\nIslamiyah, a Southeast Asian-based Islamic militant group with
\nsuspected links to al-Qaida. Singapore has said the group planned
\nto attack Western targets in the city-state earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The group is also suspected of orchestrating the bombings that
\nkilled nearly 200 people on Indonesia's tourist island of Bali
\nthis month.<\/p>\n
After the Bali attack, U.S. officials included it on a list of
\nforeign terrorist groups, outlawing any kind of support and
\nbanning the entry of members to the United States.<\/p>\n
The United Nations also included Jamaah Islamiyah on a list of
\nal-Qaeda allies last Friday. Any person or group on the list is
\nsubject to international sanctions. Nations are required to
\nfreeze their assets, prevent their movements and block any
\nattempts to sell or transfer arms to them. --AP<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/agus-dwikarnas-lawyers-seek-retrial-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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